Rating: 
Summary: Foreman is a First-Rate Biographer
Review: Amanda Foreman's stunning portrayal of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire is riveting! The author's meticulous research and excellent writing bring this vibrant, fascinating woman to life. An icon of Whig politics, entertaining, fashion, science and popular literature (not to mention gambling and intriguing social escapades), Georgiana accomplished more in her short lifetime than a dozen women combined. This historical biography reads like a novel, and Foreman's lively, three-dimensional depiction of her subject will cause you to bond with Georgiana before you finish the first chapter. In addition to the wonderful insight Foreman provides on Georgian's life, the book is also an excellent source of 18th century British political and social commentary. A wonderful, informative read!
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating portrayal of a spirited woman
Review: Foreman really draws the reader into the interesting life of Georgiana, one of the most influential women in 18thC society. This is a very well-written portrait and makes for great reading. It contained a bit more about the politics of the time than is of interest to me, but for those interested in such things I imagine all of that was entirely riveting. I was most interested in Georgiana the woman and what motivated her, and here Foreman did not disappoint. An excellent biography and an eye-opening look in to the 18th Century.
Rating:
Summary: Loved this book and would read again!
Review: GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE is a beautifully written biography. Amanda Foreman's style is so sure that it's more like reading a novel than nonfiction. In the end, one is as fascinated by the Duchess as her generation was. The book consists of four parts under which several chapters are given. Part One is called Debutante under which are the following: chapter 1 - Debutante: 1757-1774, chapter 2 - Fashion's Favourite: 1774-1776, chapter 3 - The Vortex of Dissipation: 1776-1778, chapter 4 - A Popular Patriot: 1778-1781, and chapter 5 - Introduction to Politics: 1780-1782. Part Two is called Politics and contains the following: chapter 6 - The Newcomer: 1782-1783, chapter 7 - An Unstable Condition: 1783, chapter 8 - A Birth and a Death: 1783-1784, chapter 9 - The Westminster Election: 1784, chapter 10 - The Opposition: 1784-1786, chapter 11 - Queen Bess: 1787, hapter 12 - Ménage à Trois: 1788, and chapter 13 - The Regency Crisis: 1788-1789. Part Three is called Exile and has the following: chapter 14 - The Approaching Storm: 1789-1790, chapter 15 - Exposure: 1790- 1791, chapter 16 - Exile: 1791-1793, chapter 17 - Return: 1794-1796, chapter 18 - Interlude: 1796, and chapter 19 - Isolation: 1796-1799. Part Four is the final part and is called Georgiana Redux. It consists of chapter 20 - Georgiana Redux: 1800-1801, chapter 21 - Peace: 1801-1802, chapter 22 - Power Struggles: 1802-1803, chapter 23 - The Doyenne of the Whig Party: 1803-1804, and chapter 24 -"The Ministry of All the Talents": 1804-1806. The biography also includes an introduction, A Note on Eighteenth-Century Politics, Chronology, Family Trees of Spencers and Cavendishes, an epilogue, Notes, Select Bibliography, Index, Reading Group Guide, and many picture, both b & w and in color.
This book will appeal to romance readers of Georgette Heyer, to readers of Georgian or Regency novels, to those interested in the 18th century and those interested in women's history.
Rating:
Summary: A Book You Want to Read Again and Again
Review: I bought this book because it had such a glowing review in the New Yorker, but frankly I was a little dubious about its obscure subject. However, once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. Think money, sex, adultery, lesbianism, aristocracy, drug addiction, gambling, politics, scandals, betrayals, blackmail, fashion, theater, and the French Revolution, and you have just some of the potent elements in this book. Foreman writes with great clarity and verve. The book reads more like a novel than a work of history. And yet it is full of fascinating insights and historical information. Georgiana seems more like a modern woman with thoroughly modern neuroses than an eighteenth-century character. I couldn't help but root for her all the way along. The evil Bess, on the other hand, is a character straight from the movie Single White Female - a classic evil best friend who cannot completely disguise her intentions. I recommend this book to all readers.
Rating:
Summary: Good story, pathetic subject
Review: I purchased this book to get some perspective of 18th c. England from an aristocrat's life. Amanda Foreman seems to have done extensive research on her subject. She presents the Duchess in such a way as to interest and entertain a 21st c. reader. The story begins before Georgiana's debut, her marriage, everything else in between and finally to her death. As Lady Georgiana Spencer (great-great-great etc. aunt of the late Diana, Princess of Wales), she was born with birth, fortune and connections. She marries the Duke of Devonshire whose material advantages are even greater than hers. From an innocent bride (whose new husband already had a child by his 1st mistress) she becomes a popular figure in society due to her personality, sense of fashion and position. All the excesses of the partying peers are here:sex (adultery, lesbianism, what-have-you), alcohol and gambling. I felt for her in the beginning; virtually ignored by the Duke, she did her best to please everyone, her mother, her friends, the hangers-on and whoever came her way. I thought of her as pathetic when she gambled obsessively ($6 million dollars almost 300 years ago?), lied about it constantly and was in debt to the end. What I found repulsive was her reliance and friendship on a woman who was her husband's mistress, Lady Bess. The latter lived with them along with her children with the Duke, used the Devonshire's money and stayed on to marry the Duke himself. Jealous of Georgiana, she did all to promote and advance herself. Georgiana was passionate in her loyalties, but her energies and talents were wasted on people who used her. The strength of her loyalties made her spineless and malleable. I felt frustration for her because at every turn, when a decent relationship with her husband could be had (and he forgave her on several occasions) she would fall in love with someone else. She loved her children and this was her redeeming quality. If not for that, her life was a waste.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was really looking forward to this book. The reviews I had read of this book made Georgiana out to to be sexually risque and controversial. Either the author didn't go into enough detail, or the reviewers were reading between the lines. Actually, the real controversy comes in some of the well-blacked-out sections of Georgiana's correspondance. The letters written from and to Georgiana made me long for a return to letter writing in this computer age we live in. Georgiana definitely was an interesting individual. She had a friendship with Marie Antoinette before the French Revolution (rumored to be lesbian in nature). A color, Devonshire brown, was created by Georgiana. I also fell in love with Georgiana's wardrobe. Georgiana seems to be a Scarlett O'Hara of world history. However, I was very disappointed at the lack of editorial work on the novel. I've never read a book before that I wanted to send back to the author with corrections (especially for comma problems). I skimmed the last part of the book because it became rather dry and boring.
Rating: 
Summary: Less is more
Review: Lady Georgiana Spencer, who became an 18th century Duchess of Devonshire, was every bit as fascinating as her descendent, Diana Spencer, the future Princess of Wales, would turn out to be. Georgiana set English society on its ear during her years as Duchess. She was a political activist in an era when the opinion of women neither was sought nor welcomed--and her influence was not inconsiderable--she had such a severe gambling problem that her losses all but bankrupted the (very rich) Duchy of Devonshire. As always, Amanda Foreman's research is impeccable, and her writing style so lively that this biography is as gripping as good fiction. In Foreman's capable hands, The Duchess is made to be as fascinating as the most interesting modern woman.
Rating:
Summary: Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire
Review: The only bad thing about this book is that it's inevitably going to end. If you love superbly written and beautifully researched biographies and have ANY interest whatsoever in history, you'll want to add this one to your library. The author, Amanda Foreman, is a former freelance journalist, which probably goes very far in explaining why the story is so incredibly absorbing. It reads like a novel. Typically, I actually knit while I read. With this book, I finally put my knitting aside because it was slowing down my reading! I admit to minoring in history in college, with a focus on British history, but I've learned all kinds of information that I never fully understood before. (The author also has a PhD from Oxford.) The only other biography I've read that comes close to this one was also written by another Amanda ... Amanda Vaill's Everybody was So Young. If you appreciated that one, you'll probably love reading about Amanda Foreman's Georgiana.
Rating:
Summary: Another Brilliant, if Histrionic, Spencer Girl
Review: The selling point of Amanda Foreman's hugely successful "Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire" was that she hailed from the same family as Princess Diana, and that she too was beautiful, blonde and bulimic. This connection probably gave Foreman an early boost in the book sales department, but what clinched this book's bestseller status was the compelling narrative of Georgiana's life: born into one of England's most ancient and preeminent landed families, she was then married off into one of its richest: to this day, the Cavendishes (i.e, the Dukes of Devonshire) overshadow virtually all but the Royal Family in terms of inherited wealth. Georgiana, however, is a perfect specimen of the educated woman in the Age of Reason: she dabbled in politics, geology, literature gambling, adultery and Continental travel - visiting Gibbon in Geneva and then becoming fast friends with Marie Antoinette. High points of her political achievements include a political alliance with Charles James Fox, and a masterful electoral campaign, on his behalf, for the seat of Westminster. The sadder aspects of her life can be found in her unstable relationship with her own husband, her doomed relationships with other men, a strange love triangle with her live-in friend Elizabeth and a series of health crises that robbed her of her looks. One of the best biographies of the late 18th century.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't deserve a crown
Review: This book was merely a by-product of the Diana-hysteria.
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