British Enchanters: John Vanbrugh and the cultural revolution that changed a nation
It is London, 1704, and the foundation stone is being laid for a theatre by the dramatist John Vanbrugh. This is the story of his playhouse and the extraordinary people who clustered around it: the writers Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, the composer George Frideric Handel, and England’s first opera diva: Catherine Tofts.
They all had one thing in common. They wanted Britain to be ruled by a dynasty of German Protestants – the Hanoverians – instead of the Catholic House of Stuart. It was not easy to persuade their countrymen to accept a foreign king, especially one who hardly spoke English, but, as artists, they looked to Europe as a source of inspiration.
In this group biography, Annette Rubery follows Vanbrugh and his friends as they reinvented the nation through theatrical spectacle. Whether staging an opera in London’s West End or building a dome in a Yorkshire field, they used drama to project the power of the monarchy and gain influence in Europe. In the end, their flamboyant style could not be sustained, but they succeeded in defining Britain at a crucial point in its history – changing it forever.
The Female Rake: Peg Woffington’s Scandalous Life on the Georgian stage
The Female Rake tells of an actress’s progress from an ‘18th-century Nell Gwyn’ to a heroine of sentimental tragedy. The notorious Peg Woffington was a beauty, wit, courtesan, and one of the best-loved comic actresses of the eighteenth century. Acclaimed for playing high-born women, she also cornered the market in cross-dressed portrayals of soldiers, rakes and men of fashion. Off-stage her lovers were among the most influential figures of the age, including its most famous actor, David Garrick.
In the first biography of Peg for half a century, Annette Rubery mixes the sweat and greasepaint of Georgian Dublin theatreland with a wider perspective on the roles that bolder women in that era could choose to adopt, and charts Peg’s progress, fuelled by charisma, charm and fierce independence, out of the shame and penury of her origins into wealth, celebrity and, ultimately, myth.
Shortlisted for the 2022 Tony Lothian Prize >>
Lichfield Then & Now
Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: The History Press Ltd (Nov 2012)
ISBN-10: 0752461133
ISBN-13: 978-0752461137
Lichfield Then & Now pairs 45 carefully chosen photographs from archives, postcards and private collections with 45 contemporary colour versions of the same views, providing a fascinating visual chronicle of the city’s progress. Compare the old layout of Lichfield’s streets – its shop-fronts, parks and pools – with the Lichfield of today and see for yourself the subtle march of time, even in this most historic of places. Lichfield Then & Now will delight all local historians and will awaken nostalgic memories for those who used to live or work there.
Sometimes, these Then and Now books don’t work and for a variety of reasons. That is not the case with this. I’ve lived in Lichfield for over 30 years and thought that over that time had got to know this small Cathedral City very well. However, the combination of photographs and narrative has made me aware of many things that I’ve either missed or simply was unaware.