Mistress of the Elgin Marbles : A Biography of Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin

Rating:
Summary: If you love Patrick O'Brian...
Review: "Remember the ladies" Abigail Adams charged her husband John -- that's what Nagel does with "Mary Nisbet"; she fills in fascinating and colorful details of the world of the women of society in England during the war against Napoleon. All the teasing glimpses we get in O'Brian's masculine epic are fleshed out, as it were; the opulence of the Bey's court; Emma Hamilton's manipulation of Admiral Nelson; the impact of the war with Napoleon on life and travel -- all the dinner parties O'Brian glossed over in passing come springing to vivid life as we read from Mary's actual letters. If you loved Master and Commander or the whole series, pick this up and treat yourself to a richer picture of the period.

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing
Review: I just finished reading Susan Nagel's wonderful Biography of Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin. Rarely do I read Biographies and feel so intimately close to the subject as I did with this well researched piece of work. I felt as if I had lived right along with Mary through her travels, adventures, exploits and tragedies. Packed with Romantic locals and historical people. An intimate peek into a fascinating life, who was Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin.

Rating:
Summary: Quite a Girl!
Review: Quite a Girl! We have this vision of the women of a century ago being totally subservient to the men. It has been the men who made history. Where there have been women in the story, they are often viewed only as a companion to the men, as examples, the recent biographies of Washington and Nelson. In recent years we've begun to see well written biographies of women who certainly led fascinating lives.

Mary Nisbet was smart, rich, beautiful. She took smallpox vaccine to the Middle East, brought classical marbles from the Parthenon back to England (before Napoleon could get them). Then she 'replaced' her husband with his best friend.

Quite a Girl, Very interesting character, well written book.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating History-With Romance and Adventure
Review: Susan Nagel's biography of the Countess of Elgin makes history come alive in a dramatic, romantic page-turner. You'll be transported to a land of wealth and privilege, where egg-sized emeralds are exchanged as small tokens of affection, where cannons salute the arrival of dignitaries into new ports and where love of art and love of man mixes to create a heady and destructive combination of emotions.



This book is perfect for a day at the beach or an evening curled up at home - if only all history could be this fun!