The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III

George III of England: cold-hearted, cruel, and villainous? Not so, posits historian Roberts (winner of the Wolfson History Prize for Salisbury: Victorian Titan) in his new biography, which while decidedly sympathetic to its subject—sometimes to excess—nevertheless presents a convincing case. This is not the first revisionist treatment of the monarch, who reigned from 1760 until his death in 1820, but Roberts's extensive use of primary-source letters, essays, and other personal documents recently made available by the Georgian Papers Programme offers much fresh evidence that George III was not the arrogant and vindictive tyrant portrayed in popular culture, but rather an intelligent and conscientious king whose idealistic goals were stymied by political frictions and the misfortune of mental illness. A practiced hand at thoroughly detailed histories and biographies, Roberts keeps the lengthy text vivid and engaging as he untangles the inciting factors of American Revolution and the various Parliamentary conflicts that dogged George III's reign, especially after the Seven Years' War. The author has a deep knowledge of this era, having previously written the bestselling Napoleon: A Life.