now that "Chrysalis" is out of my way

[swan_tower]

I'm trying (again) for the one-story-a-month thing, which means I'm gearing up for February. This one is going to be a bigger project, and involves at least one piece of directed research. So:

Can anyone recommend to me a good biography of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham? I'm particularly interested in the last five years or so of his life; I could care less what he got up to in childhood.

(Oddly, this is completely unrelated to me reading The Three Musketeers. THAT book, I picked up because I'm trying to figure out what "The Three Hackbutters" should be about, other than its title.)

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I've never seen a good bio of him--just the sensationalistic claptrap--but I will try to recall where I saw an excellent treatment of James' boyz . . . as I recall it had a fantastic bibliography at the back.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Surely somebody's written a non-sensationalistic take on his life.

I'm trying to come up with a plot that can link into something Buckingham was doing circa 1624-1625; all I really need is to know what he was doing around then, in decent detail.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Is that the period he and Charles were farting around Europe playing Great Princes?

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Just after. I need to know what Buckingham was up to in between their return from Spain and Charles' accession. Maybe a little bit past that latter.

[shui-long.livejournal.com]

You may want to look at
Roger Lockyer, Buckingham; the life and political career of George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham 1592-1628 (1981, reissued 1984)

which would seem to be a fairly thorough and non-sensational account, though it focusses on his political activities. (But then, if he was making a speech to Parliament on 24 Feb he couldn't have been off doing whatever you're plotting...)

I can't find anything else recent; there are obviously books on James I and the court, but these may not provide enough detail on Buckingham.

Samuel R Gardiner, History of England 1603-1642 (1896), in ten volumes, goes into great detail in the traditional style; vol V covers 1623-5.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

His political activities are exactly what I want to know about. You are awesome!