'A magnificent work, as both portrait...and as panorama of a golden age...A treasure trove of lush details and grim realities.' -- Anthony Bourdain 'A magnificent, fantastic read: all the wonders of that incomparable age touched on with mastery; all I hoped it would be and more' -- Stephen Fry 'This grand new account of the rapid rise and fall of the ultimate Regency dandy ... is a finely written and beautifully illustrated book which does credit to the extraordinary life, times and legacy of its subject.' -- Frances Wilson, Literary Review 'Lush, funny, exhaustively researched and beautifully written. What Ian Kelly's hugely entertaining biography of Beau Brummell does is restore him as a human being and make a convincing case for something much more profound: his role in shaping modern society. The reader will want neither the book, nor the intriguing life it recreates, to come to an end.' -- Herald 'Splendid ... What makes this book much more than just a relaxed, racy biography is the way its author brings to life not just the man but also the time in which he lived.' -- The Sunday Times 'Hugely readable' -- James Dellingpole, The Times 'Ian Kelly captures the sadness and frustration that lay behind the glamour; his book is elegant and scrupulously researched, with an admirable feeling for the age ... sensitively narrated.' -- Spectator 'A wonderful melange of social history and biography ... Ian Kelly, in this vibrant, witty and fact-packed book has produced something of a tour-de-force. The pathos of the later years is almost unbearable, the details of prison life (and Eton life) done in a style almost as arresting as that of the man himself.' -- Claire Harman, Sunday Telegraph 'Beautifully illustrated ... destroys the myths. This is the only book you need to read if you want to know the whole truth about Brummell.' -- Telegraph 'Ian Kelly's magisterial, utterly gripping life of George 'Beau' Brummell is parable for modern times. Kelly sets out the arena deftly, with a vivid evocation of Georgian London. Kelly elegantly charts the tale of this fashion icon.' -- Philip Hoare, Independent 'Wonderful ... nearly every page of the first half tells us something intriguing about late-Georgian society, while the second half conjures up an image of the decayed dandy in exile worthy of Balzac. He is also an unusually sharp and sophisticated writer.' -- Damian Thompson, Mail on Sunday
