The Scapegoat

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 23 SEPT. 2024

This rousing biography from historian Hughes-Hallet (The Pike) recaps the life of George Villiers, an obscure son of English gentry who skyrocketed from cupbearer to King James I in 1614 to near-absolute power as James's (and his son Charles I's) prime minister, Lord High Admiral, and Duke of Buckingham. He owed his rise to his intimate—likely sexual—relationship with James, who swooned over his good looks and elegant dancing. Hughes-Hallett's colorful narrative highlights Villiers's glamorous exploits—her account of his and Charles's journey in disguise to Spain to negotiate Charles's marriage is full of twisty intrigue—and his skill as a courtier and power broker who was charming, well-spoken, and ingratiating even to his enemies. She's also insightful on Villiers's undoing as a result of his ill-advised campaigns against Spain and France, which ended in bloody fiascos, partly because his forces fumed over lack of pay—it was a disgruntled soldier who assassinated him in 1628. By that time, Hughes-Hallett demonstrates, Villiers was the most hated man in England, accused of everything from witchcraft to killing King James; Parliament's attempts to impeach him sparked the antagonism between Charles and Parliament that would lead to civil war. Hughes-Hallet paints a glittering portrait of 17th-century court life, where authority often flowed from intense emotional rapport with the king and could lead to stunning falls from grace. It's a captivating study of the psychodrama of power.