Nicholas Foulkes

Interesting--if not particularly probing--account of the Blessington-d'Orsay (B's "cupidon déchaîné") ménage, always on the periphery of Byron's Italian years. A reasonable-ish portrait of Byron, though Foulkes buys into Lady Blessington's condescension in a way Byron's many biographers seldom do. (Of course he would, relying as he does almost exclusively on Blessington's accounts of their meeting, along with a bit from Nicolson.) Apparently the author of Chillde Harold wasn't "Byronic" enough for her.... Useful for its evocation of the period (late Regency to mid-Victorian) in Europe and the U.K. Le Compte d'Orsay was basically famous for being famous--sort of a nineteenth-century Kardashian--all about fashion trend-setting and (in his prime) louche wealth. And, of course, scandalous behavior.… (mer)

Whilst the centre focus of this story is a plot to win a fortune by 'fixing' the Derby of 1844, Foulkes' makes sure that the reader is well aware of the context in terms of society at that time. The early 19th Century was a time when gambling addiction amongst the upper classes was rife. The sums gambled were phenomenal by todays standards and gambling was not regulated like today.

The cast of characters in the book is wide and varied - from the gentlemen to the blackguards. There is nothing more zealous than a convert and George Bentinck was determined to stamp out corruption in horse-racing. The plot in the 1844 Derby has been repeated often over the years - substituting horses - and on this occasion was not successful.

A fascinating insight into changing society and how fortunes were won and lost.… (mer)

Very entertaining biography of a fairly lousy artist. Foulkes presents a lot of silly conspiracy theories as to why the art world doesn't like Buffet with an ingenuous "I'm not saying it's true but here's what they say" approach and builds a few straw arguments, such as "he's unfairly accused of repeating himself" or "the fashion moved to abstract art," which if true wouldn't explain the continued success of his near-contemporaries Giacometti and Bacon. Nevertheless, Buffet led a colorful life and the book is undeniably fun to read.… (mer)

An interesting case, though the author spends about 148 pages on about 50 years of background before actually getting to the case. Much of it is spent denouncing Lord George Bentinck, who apparently spent many years manipulating races himself before he decided to impose his own brand of "purity" on the Turf. The social background is useful for providing detail on institutions like Tattersall's horse auction house and Crockford's gambling club, which often appear in the background of Regency romances and other fiction set in the period which I enjoy. I kept thinking, "Where is Harry Flashman in all this?" as the rogues went by.… (mer)