A study of one of the most dynamic figures in eighteenth century British politics.

Charles James Fox and William Pitt the Younger were the two political giants of their day - the greatest of orators, and the fiercest of rivals. But did the two men have anything in common? Each was a younger son of distinguished fathers, who themselves had been bitter rivals for power a generation earlier, and each came to prominence at a very young age. Temperamentally, however, they could hardly have been more different. Fox was genial, tolerant, gregarious, self-indulgent, rash, a reckless gambler and a drinking companion of the Prince of Wales (later the Prince Regent and George IV) whereas Pitt was cautious, self-controlled (though also a heavy drinker), calculating, ruthless and misanthropic. Their fates were heavily influenced by their respective relationships with George III, who formed an insensate hostility to Fox, using unconstitutional means to exclude him from power, while favouring Pitt, whom he appointed as Prime Minister at the age of 24, and maintained in office for 17 years (plus a further two years in his second administration). The result was that Fox enjoyed only three very short periods as Foreign Minister, and was effectively Leader of the Opposition for a record 23 years. But he did achieve a late triumph when, following the death of Pitt, he became the dominant member of the `Government of All the Talents' and lived long enough to be able to introduce the bill which abolished the slave trade. Featuring a wide cast of characters, this book sheds new light on the political landscape of Georgian England and two of the leading political players of the age.

A biography of Charles James Fox, the 18th century politician and socialite whose political importance embraced the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, the East India Company and many domestic issues. The book looks at Fox the aristocrat, famed for his oratory and remembered as Pitt's chief adversary, who in so many causes was the champion of the people. David Powell is an 18th century historian, and author of Tom Paine: The Greatest Exile.

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The author of the bestseller White Mischief tells the story of the beautiful Langhorne sisters, who lived at the Pinnacle of high and powerful society from the end of the Civil War through the Second World War. Making their way across two continents, they left in their wakes rich husbands, fame, adoration, and scandal. Lizzie, Irene, Nancy, Phyllis, and Nora were born in Virginia to a family impoverished by the Civil War. Their father remade his fortune by collaborating with the Yankees and building rail-roads; the sisters became southern belles and northern debutantes. James Fox draws on unpublished correspondence between the sisters and their husbands, lovers, children, and the powerful and glamorous of their day to construct a plural topography with the scope of a grand novel and the pace of a historical thriller. At its center is the most famous sister, Nancy, who married Waldorf Astor, one of the richest men in the world. Heroic, hilarious, magnetically charming, and a bully, Lady Astor became Britain's first female MP, championing women's rights and the poor. The beautiful Irene married Charles Dana Gibson and was the model for the Gibson Girl. The author's grandmother, Phyllis, married a famous economist, one of the architects of modern Europe. Fox has written an absorbing and spirited, intimate and sweeping account of extraordinary women at the highest reaches of society, their adventures set against the background of a tumultuous century.