The Perils of Politeness : A Life of Lord Chesterfield - Richard Wendorf

The Perils of Politeness : A Life of Lord Chesterfield - Richard Wendorf

Richard Wendorf

£25.00
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Published 1 November 2026

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  • Pages · 368 pages, 26 illustrations, 13 in colour
  • Publication Date · 01/11/2026
  • Genre · Biography: historical, political & military
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Statesman, wit, writer and arbiter of taste, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield was one of the most influential - and divisive - figures of Georgian Britain. As Lord Macaulay later observed, Chesterfield was `what no person in our time has been or can be, a great political leader and at the same time the acknowledged chief of the fashionable world'. This is the first full-scale biography of Chesterfield in nearly a century, drawing on previously unpublished material to reassess his political career, literary output and enduring fascination. Richard Wendorf offers a nuanced reading of Chesterfield's celebrated letters to his son and examines his embodiment of the virtues and perils of politeness, revealing a figure whose views on sex, marriage, women and hypocrisy continue to provoke lively debate.

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