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Augusta Leigh : Byron's half-sister

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Augusta Leigh was the child of one of the most sensational scandals to hit Georgian England - the seduction of the wilful and beautiful Marchioness of Carmarthen by "Mad Jack" Byron - and scandal, of one kind or another, was to pursue Augusta for the rest of her life and even beyond the grave.Her marriage to her cousin, equerry and companion of the Prince of Wales, Colonel George Leigh, who fell from grace when it came to light that he had cheated the Prince over the sale of a horse and fiddled regimental accounts to fund his gambling habit, brought her nothing but poverty and seven children.

Her love affair with her half-brother, Lord Byron, was largely responsible for his separation from his wife and subsequent exile.

Lady Byron, determined that Augusta's incestuous liaison should not go unpunished, waged a relentless war of attrition against her, in which Augusta's daughter, Elizabeth Medora, also became entangled.This biography of Augusta Leigh draws on new material from archives all over the country.

It sheds new light not only on this remarkable and courageous woman, but also on Georgian and Regency society and the life of the Court.

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Product Details
Pimlico
0712665609 / 9780712665605
Paperback / softback
04/07/2002
United Kingdom
English
xx, 438 p., [16] p. of plates : ill.
24 cm
general Learn More
Reprint. Originally published: London: Chatto & Windus, 2000.