Product details
- ISBN 9780228014539
- Dimensions: 159 x 238mm
- Publication Date: 30 Jan 2023
- Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
- Publication City/Country: CA
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Known today chiefly for his surrender to the American forces at Saratoga, New York, in 1777, General John Burgoyne was one of the most interesting – and extraordinary – figures of the eighteenth century.
In From the Battlefield to the Stage Norman Poser provides a rounded biography, covering not only the Saratoga campaign but also elements of Burgoyne’s eventful life that have never been adequately explored. At the age of twenty-eight, Burgoyne eloped with Charlotte Stanley, the daughter of the immensely wealthy and influential Earl of Derby. Though initially furious, the earl, convinced of the young officer’s good character, eventually forgave the couple, and the Stanley family became a major influence in Burgoyne’s life and career. He was a socialite, welcome in London’s fashionable drawing rooms, a high-stakes gambler in its elite clubs, and a playwright whose social comedies were successfully performed on the London stage. As a member of Parliament for thirty years, Burgoyne supported the rule of law, fought the corruption of the East India Company, and advocated religious tolerance.
From the Battlefield to the Stage paints a vivid portrait of General John Burgoyne, remembering him not only for his role in one of Britain’s worst military disasters but also as a brave, talented, humane man.
Norman S. Poser is professor emeritus at Brooklyn Law School and the author of Lord Mansfield: Justice in the Age of Reason.
