The Serpent and the Stag

by John George Pearson

Book Overview

LIKE NEW. EXCELLENT CONDITION. HARDCOVER. DUST JACKET.. TRUE HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY.. FAST SHIPPING. 42-A This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0030554314
• ISBN13: 9780030554315
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Holt McDougal
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Very good chronicle of a fascinating family

The modern Cavendish family was founded by the redoubtable Bess of Hardwick who married into wealth not once but four times and built an empire. By her second husband, Sir William Cavendish, she had five children, including William (who was created earl of Cavendish), Charles (whose son was created duke of Newcastle), Elizabeth (mother, by Charles Stuart, of Arabella Stuart, claimant to the throne who died in the Tower), and Mary (whose husband, a Talbot, inherited the earldom of Shrewsbury from Bess's fourth husband). This book follows the story of the younger William's descendants and Pearson does a good job of getting behind the state portraits and stately homes (including Chatsworth in Derbyshire) to the almost excessively human member of the family. The earls and dukes of Devonshire tended to marry well, including links to the Russells, Howards, Spencers, Butlers, Cecils, Fitzmaurices, Greys, and even the sister of President John F. Kennedy. The family also produced Charles Cavendish, a leading mathematician and close friend of Descartes, and, a century and a half later, Henry Cavendish, discoverer of hydrogen. Pearson does a very creditable job of recounting the history of a fascinating family.