The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham

by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

From the winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize, an extraordinary history of the meteoric rise and fall of George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham.

As King James I’s favourite, Buckingham was also his confidant, gatekeeper, advisor and lover. When Charles I succeeded his father, he was similarly enthralled and made Buckingham his best friend and mentor. A dazzling figure on horseback and a skilful player of the political game, Buckingham rapidly transformed the influence his beauty gave him into immense wealth and power. He became one of the most flamboyant and enigmatic Englishmen at the heart of seventeenth-century royal and political life.

With a novelist’s touch, Lucy Hughes-Hallett transports us into a courtly world of masques and dancing, exquisite clothes, the art of Rubens and Van Dyck, gender-fluidity, same-sex desire, and appallingly rudimentary medicine. Witch hunts coexisted with Descartian rationality and public opinion was becoming a political force. Falling from grace spectacularly, Buckingham came to represent everything that was wrong with the country.

From kidnappings and murder plots to men weeping in Parliament over civil liberties,The Scapegoat navigates love, war-fever and pacifism in a society on the brink of cataclysmic change. In this immersive and authoritative account, Hughes-Hallett summons an era that still resonates today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, British Literature, Biography Memoir, LGBT, Historical

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

This is a really good book which I'm not going to finish because I ran out of care about the subject. It's incredibly long and eyewateringly detailed, and I feel as though I have learned enough. Also, honestly, I was interested in the operation of Buckingham as a favourite (which is extremely interesting and depicted excellently); once James VI/I is dead and he's an important minister of state in his own right, the interest becomes largely war-political, and I lack that. However, totally worth it for the first part, as it's a fascinating story.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and easy to follow look at George Villiers/Duke of Buckingham and his role as favourite to King James I and his son King Charles I.

I especially appreciated that it’s not only a chronological retelling, but it’s also subdivided into smaller thematic chapters that focus specific topics, usually giving more historical context.

[George Ilsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I stumbled upon this massive brick of a book in the library, I was intrigued but doubted I would ever get around to reading such a thick tome.

I was wrong. I read it and enjoyed it.

Arranged into short manageable chapters with "theme titles" (Dancing; Corruption; The Art of Peace; Sex; etc) the book manages to be both chronological and accessible.

Much insight into the nature of "favourites" — and the dangers of being close to the throne (or the seat of power, which continue to this day).

Seems to be very well researched, and written in a fluid engaging manner. As someone who knows very little about the topic, I can't comment on the author's positions or conclusions, but I found the work consistently engaging and rewarding.

In private correspondence King James and Buckingham referred to each other in loving terms, such as "Husband and father" or "Husband and son" and so on. Buckingham was also "brotherly" towards Prince Charles and his position of influence continued after the death of King James when Charles ascended to the throne (which eventually did not work out so well).

But that's another story.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. It’s unusual for me to read about the early modern period in my downtime, but this was so engaging.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sent this by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was thrilled to receive this because this is the period I studied for A Level History. I've always found James I and his court fascinating and how he was able to be so open with his love for male favourites. Although it says it's about the life of George Villiers it's also a biography of the times he lived in which puts a lot of his actions into context. Hughes-Hallett has written an accessible work full of detail that brings the period and its players to life. This is a superb book of that era.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent biography of a fascinating, often vilified historical figure. Thorough, well-written and engaging.

[History Today]

In spring 1622 King James VI & I’s favourite, George Villiers, then marquess of Buckingham, toured Fontainebleau Palace with the Flemish artist and diplomat Peter Paul Rubens. Admiring Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, the Englishman ‘asked if he might have it’ but was firmly rebuffed. ‘Unaccustomed to having his requests denied, Buckingham was put out, but the day was otherwise pleasant.’ Evincing Buckingham’s audacity as well as his connoisseurship, this instance is one of numerous scenes vividly recreated in Lucy Hughes-Hallett’s The Scapegoat. More a cluster of evocative vignettes than a conventional biography, her life of Buckingham is presented in more than 100 chapters, with some – such as ‘More Advice on Bargaining’ – extending to barely 100 words, while others – such as ‘Houses’ – supplying a chronological list of property acquisitions. As Hughes-Hallett indicates at the outset: ‘This book is about big things – peace and war, Parliament and despotism. It is also about small things – babies, jewels, anemones … aiming to make a collage that conjures up a life in all its complexity.’

Reading The Scapegoat sometimes feels like reviewing the author’s informal working notes. Hughes-Hallett’s prose style shifts from narrative description to imaginative speculation; when discussing how Buckingham and Prince Charles sought to extricate themselves from Philip IV’s court in Madrid in July 1623, she presents ‘two possible guessed-at versions of their all-night conversations’.

Rendered in luxuriant detail are the flamboyant personalities, material magnificence and complex hierarchies that comprised court culture under James VI and I, Charles I, Louis XIII of France and Philip IV of Spain. Regular modern interjections also echo Hughes-Hallett’s novel Peculiar Ground (2017), which moves in focus from Oxfordshire in the 1660s to Berlin in the 1970s. Chronological shifts evidently attract the author, who posits that comparing a portrait of Buckingham by William Larkin with another executed five years later by Anthony van Dyck is ‘to have the dizzying experience of a ride in a vastly accelerated time machine’. Confronted by centuries of salacious speculation regarding the nature of Buckingham’s relations with James, Hughes-Hallett is forthright in insisting that, since theirs was ‘the kind of love that ambushes at first sight’, it ‘doesn’t much matter’ whether sexual intercourse occurred – even if ‘the not-mattering is alien to the twenty-first century mind’. Less compelling – at least in terms of appreciating the scale of Buckingham’s political influence – is her observation that she started working on The Scapegoat in 2020 at a time when ‘large decisions about the way Britain was ruled were being made by one of the prime minister’s staff, Dominic Cummings’, who ‘seemed to come, as Buckingham did, from nowhere’ and then ‘became a scapegoat, as Buckingham did four hundred years before’. Such a comparison seems needlessly flattering to Cummings.

Read the rest of the review at https://www.historytoday.com/archive/...

Clare Jackson is Honorary Professor of Early Modern History at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5. Written in a lively style but too long

[nell · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was soooo good. becoming obsessed with history books written by female historians (dan jones you know what you’d done). such an interesting story and so fascinatingly told!! love a book that can render historical characters so vividly….it’s so easy to imagine that everyone in these times had no love for their kids or their wives or their colleagues outside the mercenary and the desire for heirs but this book is so full of real people crying and laughing and loving their kids. james i and george villiers are both such interesting characters and it was kind of shocking (in a good way) to read how explicitly the homosexual element of their relationship was discussed in the early seventeenth century!! obviously it is a very long book and at times i wondered if certain parts were a little tangential (e.g. all the art chapters) but it does come to build a really rounded picture of buckingham and his life and his rise….sometimes the timeline became a little muddied where the story wasn’t being told chronologically, and i found the rochelle parts parts a little repetitive although that’s not really the authors fault as much as buckinghams because he kept thinking he could do the same thing over and over again till it worked lol. but overall greatly enjoyed this and loved spending time with it!!

[Linda Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Scapegoat
Author: Lucy Hughes-Hallett
Source: Orlando Public Library
Date Published: November 19, 2024

I have always enjoyed historical fiction, especially the European and Russian courts. If you think politics is brutal now, you should read some of these books. The Scapegoat is about the life and times of the Duke of Buckingham, who rose to prominence by being the lover and companion of the very married and very male King James. At one time, Buckingham was widely considered the most beautiful man in Europe and greatly admired. Please note that this is a long novel, over 600 pages, and requires serious notes, highlights, and a summary of the characters. But, if you stay diligent and love history, this is a very well-told story that is exhaustively researched and factually based. It is an important story because the Duke of Buckingham became the precursor for the modern British royal family we know today. #TheScapegoat #LucyHughesHallett #ocls #DuckofBuckingham #KingJames #England #UnitedKingdom #RoyalCourt #history #murders #intrigue #loyalty #deception #religion @ocls
🇬🇧

#book #books #bookAddict #BooksOfInstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #reader#bookreviewer #history

[Nel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dear King James, next time keep your boy toys in the bedroom. Thank you.

PS Balthazar G. was a good lad thou.

[Finch · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at just over halfway through. I dunno man, I think I just dislike the author's style. I was getting more and more annoyed with her obsession with beauty and ugliness (every major historical figure introduced we have to have "this person was ugly" or "this person wasn't a looker") and it's like. That's completely objective? She describes the Infanta Maria as "on the plainer side of ordinary" and then I look at the portrait the author provided and she's just like. Pretty. King James is repeatedly described as unattractive and he looks like just a guy. I also get the impression the author just... doesn't like King James much, which is fine, but you're writing a history book about one of his greatest loves?
There's also a lot more looking at things through a modern lens that I just don't think is necessary. Like. Things that we find weird now were not odd then. People taking their attractive children to court in the hopes of attracting royal attention was not odd or predatory at the time. She says Prince Charles could be viewed as a stalker for going to Spain in an attempt to force the Spanish Match and like... no? He was a fucking idiot. She also at one point says Prince Charles is "involuntarily celibate" and that is such a fucking loaded phrase to use on a guy who had at that point just been stupid and short sighted and the same level of entitled as any prince at the time. Like literally yes he was involuntarily celibate by dint of being a shy prince and not married but that phrase used by a modern author has a very specific meaning that I just think is unnecessary and very strange to use.

I also loathe it when history books just invent scenarios? Especially when they do it for no reason. Like you can just say we don't know exactly what King James and his lovers got up to in the bedroom you don't have to write an extremely strange paragraph about what he might or might not have done with his dick

I also think I'm going to be on my deathbed thinking about the author stating King James and Villiers' relationship was doubly unequal not just because one was a king (yeah alright that'll create an unequal dynamic alright) but also because Villiers was hotter?? HUH? Fresh off the presses gang if your partner is hotter than you your relationship is built on unequal grounds

I dunno man. Not a book I was enjoying. I will simply find a different book about Buckingham

[Ken Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

[10 Aug 2025] An excellent, almost exemplary, biography of George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham and his relationship with King James VI and I and his son, Charles I. It is written in strong narrative with verb and pace. The language is precise, clear and concise. it makes for pleasurable and enjoyable reading, particularly because each episode of his life is detailed in relatively short chapters. The details of his life are amazing - A good looking - pretty boy - sent to the notorious court of a gay/bisexual king -specifically for adoption as a favourite or a lover - whether or not that was his own inclination. He was promoted and given responsibility that far exceeded his talents.

We can never truly know what went on behind the chamber door, but whether or not Buckingham was a wholly willing participant who fell in love or whether he had his mind focused on career progression or a bit of both - we’ll never be sure. He made multiple mistakes and these cost thousands of people their lives. He was in many respects a tragic figure, some might say incompetent. Turning to the title, I’m not 100% sure it fits. One could equally argue he became intensely unpopular and even hated because of his own poor decisions.

It is a very useful primer to the beginnings of the civil war. It brilliantly evokes the Stuart court, describes their thinking, behaviour and daily lives. It is so well written that even if history isn’t your thing then you’ll still get a lot from it. I loved it and would recommend it.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of both Buckingham’s life and the world in which he lived. He rose to an astonishingly high position because he was charming, elegant, accommodating, and incredibly good-looking. As a companion to kings and holder of administrative offices in the state, Hughes-Hallett shows that he was skilled, hardworking, and reliable. As a diplomat and maker of foreign policy and war plans, he was a disaster, being directly responsible, as Hughes-Hallett shows, for the deaths of thousands and indirectly responsible for the deaths and suffering of tens of thousands. His warmongering was wasteful, strategically stupid, and worse than useless. He also reinforced all of Charles I’s worst tendencies and contributed largely to the disaster of Charles’s reign. But he was awfully pretty and, according to everyone who really knew him, smart and funny and thoroughly charming.

[Darryl Tomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I’ve found the Duke of Buckingham intriguing for some time; as the lover of James I, the variously feted and hated favourite of James and then Charles; his various disastrous military campaigns, and then his murder.
However this book just brings all of this to life in such a memorable way. There’s many curious echoes of our own time in the meteoric rise and fall of other favourites, eg Elon Musk.
I have to confess I do end up really liking Buckingham for all of his faults. I’ve visited his tomb several times on school trips to Westminster Abbey. Next time I go I feel like I’ll have a new appreciation of this flawed but fascinating man.

[Alex Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is, as someone of the time might have said, “so finely wrought.” Full of beautiful details - a one page chapter on the Duke’s son, who died a toddler, still sticks in my mind - and so very confidently told. This is a terrific story full of fresh details, about the way power and politics, fashion and art worked in the 1600s in England.

[Richard Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just great

[Samantha Jayaram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romped (apposite word!).through this book. Sparkling prose with, wit, vim and vigour makes this a real page turner. Fascinating period of history told through the life of one man. Also loads or paraells with modern politics. Nothing ever changes!

[Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This is not my usual period of history I'm into, but I found myself interested, especially considering that there is a recent show based on him and his mother. I found it really good, it's well written and very informative. It presents a fair view of Buckingham, neither a saint or a sinner, just a human who did good things and unkind things, like most people. I learned quite a lot about his life and his relationship with James. James and Buckingham relationship is complicated and intense at times. It was strong. Some of it comes across odd nowdays, but that's life and people are weird. I reccomend it if you're interested in the subject matter.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are so many things about this book that annoyed me most spectacularly The Publishing Triangle Award for Gay Non Fiction, you can regard the Duke of Buckingham as 'gay' if you define 'gat' as any man having undefined but intimate relations with another man but not if 'gay' is to be taken in the sense of defining and self defining identity. But that nomination was outside the author's control but the books she consulted are and that she is happy to list C.V. Wedgwood's hoary and of date 1938 volume on the Thirty Years war but not more recent works such as Peter H. Wilson's 'Europe's Tragedy' from 2009 does not fill me with confidence about her familiarity with sources or even real understanding of the period.

I also found her need to announce her moral uneasiness with the way the young Buckingham was paraded and pushed into the arms and bed of King James fatuous. If Ms, Hughes-Hallett is going to parade moral judgements of past times she might better exercise some sympathy for children in mines, factories or on warships and in armies. The plight of aristocratic youth in his twenties peddling his good looks for advancement in court is not really an object for sympathy. Nor do I find her complaints that as a female biographer/historian the male dominated world of the Stuarts' was uncongenial. I would suggest that as a biographer of the grotesquely misogynistic Gabriele D'Unannzio she should be used to male dominated history. In any case for those of us who remember Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright or Chandrika Bandaranaike the difference in plumbing does not prevent someone been an appalling murderous shit.

The real problem with this biography is that having just read 'The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I' by Steven Veerapen I hard already read a much better, nuanced and learned, but equally readable, history of these times and one which dealt with Buckingham within the context of the history of the times and reign of King James VI & I. Although most of Ms Hughes-Hallett's biography was probably written by the time Mr. Veerpan's book came out if she had applied any reasonable amount oh real historical research or thought she might have avoided accepting the reality of King James's physical deformities with more circumspection.

Mr. Veerpan's on King James VI is the best book to read because it places Buckingham and what he did and didn't do within a proper historical context. Ms. Hughes-Hallett burdens, or really pads out, her biography with long digressions on people like the duchess of Bedford (to make up for the lack of powerful women at court?) and ancillary characters like George Abbot, archbishop of Cantebury, or Francis Bacon. At over 600 pages her biography has everything except discrimination.

In many ways a far better account of Buckingham can be found in the novel 'The Assassin' by Ronald Blythe which is actually about Buckingham's assassin, John Felton and at 275 pages it, along with Veerpan's 400+ pages the two books are definitely better, more informative reads then this Brobdingnagian biography.

[Steve Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography of a fascinating man and a deep insight into the courts of James I and Charles I of England. The book really brings the early 1600s to life.

[Desirae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I looked at the author's bio and saw she had written fiction as well -- I wasn't surprised, her writing is so imaginative and clear.

I knew nothing of Buckingham (and I still don't know much I even care about the gentleman). What I do love about the book is:

She makes another era with quite different values and perspective come into focus. One example is show she contrasts their views on friendship and love with ours -- friendship was often often extolled more than love. And she's not doing a heavy-handed contrast; we know our views on love, it's theirs that she explains.

I'm listening to the book and the author is a narrator. I love that aspect too! In part, the British accent just accentuates (yes, accent twice) how British this history is, with a homosexual king and his consorts, and a bishop helping to contrive the relationships. And they called the Pope the anti-Christ. And, her passion comes through too, such as when she talks about some of the artists and paintings.

The final surprise to me is how much material was available to the author. She starts by listing and detailing her most substantive sources, which is quite the list. Some biographies have the author inferring, speculating, or just stating there are blanks. It seems the letters and journals of everyone of that era were kept! Of course, some speculation or inference will remain, such as the physical details of loving (friendship?) relationships, but so much is known.

[Tim Gillett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved history at school, probably because it was brought alive by a first class teacher. For example, when studying Henry VIII, rather than remember whether his wives were murdered or lived, I never forgot him telling us that the king's body bubbled away and exploded in its coffin from all his excessive eating and drinking.

Mr Fountain never got round to teaching us about the Stuart kings, possibly because he was taking time off to defend himself against manslaughter in a case in which he'd killed a burglar with an antique sword.

If he had, he may well have introduced us to George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, who has been brought to life by author Lucy Hughes-Hallett in The Scapegoat.

The amount of research she has done to source this 628 page tome must have been immense. Details such as the works of art collected by the Duke and his cohorts and where they've ended up now is just one example of the lengths the author has gone to, to make this the definitive work on Villiers, who she subtitles as having had a "brilliant brief life." Brief yes but brilliant? Brilliant in what he achieved I would agree but brilliant as a model of moral living - hardly.

What is brilliant is how a sixth child of a "Leicestershire gentleman" would become, in many contemporaries' eyes, more powerful than both James I and his successor Charles I, in deciding Britain's foreign policy and whether and when to go to war with Spain and others.

What is wholly remarkable, and largely unknown and untaught in British history is that the Duke of Buckingham was the homosexual lover of James I and, most likely, of Charles I. It would be remarkable that he was the gay lover of just James, but of James' son too, is incredible.

I'm fascinated as to how widely known among English people of the first half of the seventeenth century this was. Lucy Hughes- Hallett goes some way in relating how people used rhymes and double entendres to suspect and then more publicly state what was going on, presumable from stories emanating from the kings' bedchamber. This in an age when the kings of England still believed, perhaps they still do, that God had given them the right to rule over the sceptred isle, and when the subjects were more than deferent - they feared for their lives if they criticised the monarch or indeed, the king's chief minister. The author in well researched detail relates how inch by inch, the MPs of the time began to question the set up between Buckingham and the kings. Strengthened by Buckingham's clueless military forays abroad, especially in La Rochelle and Ile de Re, rumours about whether Buckingham actually had a hand in James I's death, and the despicable betrayal of British sailors abandoned unpaid, homeless and starving, the whispers became a crescendo and eventually the dam was broken and the fraught relationship between the Commons and Charles I broke down.

Lucy Hughes - Hallett's so readable account of the the simple yet shocking slaying of Buckingham by a disgruntled Suffolk soldier hits the reader like a thunder bolt. The author is meticulous in her research. The killer "had bought a knife for ten pennies from a cutler's shop on Tower Hill." What is fascinating is how Charles I and Buckingham's wife Katherine react. The king, writes the author, was told the news as he said his morning prayers. He continued, finished, and "departed to his chamber, and threw himself upon his bed, lamenting with much passion and with abundance of tears." An eye witness to the violent death of Buckingham, tells how Katherine Buckingham's "screechings, tears and distractions" were such "that I never in my life heard the like before, and hope never to hear the like again." Yet, Kate Buckingham must have known during her marriage to George that he was bisexual and was allowed unfettered access to the bed chambers of both James I and Charles I. She would have known the sexual liaisons between her husband and each of the English kings.

What's more, the mother of George Buckingham, who, as described by the author, carefully planned and nurtured her son's education and steady elevation to the royal court must have become aware at some point that his relationship with James I had become sexual. There are questions that need to be asked. Her son was just twenty two when he first encountered James I who was forty eight - old enough to be his father! These days there would be suspicion of grooming. These are details I would have liked more of in The Scapegoat. Though Lucy Hallett- Hughes tells the reader how George, whose "beauty was extraordinary," was called "sweetheart" by James I and "my sweet child and wife" even though the king was married, and how the king shared his bed with Buckingham, there's nothing on the feelings of Buckingham's mother to her son's emerging homosexuality. Then, when a similar sexual relationship developed with Charles I who "worshipped" Buckingham "as a nervous adolescent worships an older and infinitely more glamorous brother," again there is no mention of mother's reaction or indeed, reaction from Buckingham's wife and the wives of the the kings. It's clear from the book that James I and Queen Anna lived separate lives, and it's hinted that Buckingham and James' son, the future Charles I, began to become close as King James became bed ridden, and closer still on a delightfully described adventure to the Spanish royal court to try to get Charles married to a Spanish princess.

I would have liked more on the homosexual antics and relationships between Buckingham and the two kings. There are quotes from love letters and it may be that there simply is no recorded written detail of it, or could it be that Lucy Hallett- Hughes or her publisher decided to go so far and no further.

But my cheeky criticism should not take away from this excellent book, which readers may think is too in depth and beyond them. It is not. Presented in bite size chapters and written in such an accessible way, it is enthralling.

As it is, The Scapegoat is a masterful work which reveals the salaciousness of yet another English king in what we always thought was the strait laced new Protestant and puritan England of the early 1600's. How wrong we were.

[Katie Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beloved of two kings and arguably the de facto ruler of England for a while, the Duke of Buckingham's life was as breathtaking as it was brief. Hughes-Hallett chronicles the 14 years Buckingham spent at the center of English politics, until he was struck down by an assassin's blade at age 35. She does so in a series of vignettes and scenes, rounding out Buckingham's portrait in all its multilayered facets. He emerges as a complicated figure, far from a saint but all the more interesting for it.

At times Hughes-Hallett seems a little bit enamored of her subject -- it was as if he was exercising a whisper of his famous charisma down the years. He especially comes out the better when compared with Charles in the way the two were inclined to handle recalcitrant Parliaments. The foreshadowing here feels a bit heavy-handed. On the other hand, they did end up chopping Charles's head off for it, so... fair.

I liked the way Hughes-Hallett set Buckingham in his time period as well as situating him in his relationships with James and Charles. It's effective and well-drawn.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read when it wasn’t endlessly frustrating. If you’re here for the story of King James and the Duke of Buckingham, it is in there, but you have to wade through a surprising number of detours to get to the narrative you actually came for.

When Hughes-Hallett focuses on Buckingham’s life, his correspondence, and his actions, the book is genuinely engrossing. But the moment she veers off into lengthy tangents like the significance of leaping lords in 16th-century court culture or the mythological backstory of a painting the Buckinghams purchased, the momentum grinds to a halt. More than once, I forgot where the main narrative had left off.

I listened to the audiobook and was so very excited to see it was over 21 hours. In hindsight, it could easily have been 15 without the constant digressions. To me, most of these asides felt unnecessary as I didn’t pick up this book for a mini-degree in art history, but that’s what a large portion of it became.

Engaging when it stays on track, but far too meandering for my taste.

[T.J. West · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve long been fascinated by George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, ever since I read Philippa Gregory’s Earthly Joys in which he was a major character. There was just something appealing about this figure who seemed to wear his queerness on his sleeve and didn’t care whether others condemned him for sleeping with men, including no less a figure than King James himself.

Now, at last, he gets the extensive biography that he’s due, with Lucy Hughes-Hallett’s new book, The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham. This is one of the best biographies that I’ve recently, for while she doesn’t shy away from the less palatable elements of her subject’s personality and life, she also provides balance, giving us a nuanced look at one of the 17th century’s most controversial–and, among the common folk at least, most hated–political figures.

It’s really quite remarkable just how successful Villiers was in using his gifts–particularly his good looks and his charm–to not only gain the adoration and love of King James I but to hold onto those things when so many other previous favourites had lost them for various reasons. Theirs was, for better and worse, a love for the ages. Hughes-Hallett provides rich evidence for just how deep this relationship went for both men, who were bound together by something more than just political considerations. Indeed, while it has become fashionable to paint Buckingham’s motivations as primarily mercenary in nature, Hughes-Hallett seems to believe that he really did love James. After all, he remained loyal to his monarch until the latter’s death, and there’s little reason to beleive–whatever TV series like Mary & George might propose–that he actually was responsible for James’ demise.

Buckingham was more intermittently successful when it came to wooing his fellow members of the nobility. He was, as The Scapegoat repeatedly points out, someone who truly did believe that he had what it took to be a brilliant statesman. The last years of Buckingham’s life, unfortunately, were marred by various strategic blunders on his part, many of which revolved around his aborted efforts to launch raids against both Spain and France. Though his intentions were to elevate England into the status of a great power, the effect was often exactly the opposite. Despite his best intentions, he remained stymied by that thing that has cost so many leaders their popularity: shortage of money. As Parliament became ever more recalcitrant in the face of royal overreach, Buckingham’s ambitions continued to run aground on the lack of funding.

We see time and again that it was the commoners who held Buckingham in the most contempt, and Hughes-Hallett draws extensively on contemporary documents to show just how deep this hatred ran. Buckingham, like so many other favourites throughout history, was understood to be everything that was wrong with the royal administration and so, since the common people couldn’t (or wouldn’t) dare to challenge King Charles himself, they decided to unload all of their opprobrium on Buckingham. To his credit, as the book makes clear, he wasn’t the type to respond with criticism of his own; instead, he was a born pleaser, and so he would do everything in his power to earn the love of his peers and, to a lesser extent, the commons.

As Hughes-Hallett demonstrates, it was Buckingham’s great fortune that he’d managed to make staunch allies out of not one but two kings. Neither James nor Charles was ever willing to part ways with him nor to even really discipline him, despite the grave damage that their favourite did to the Crown and its prestige. Had either of them been willing to do so, they might have found themselves more popular. Both of the early Stuarts, however, were absolutely convinced of their divine right to rule, which meant that, were they to throw Buckingham under the bus–to make a scapegoat of him, as it were–they would have admitted that they were wrong and that their judgment needed to be questioned. Clearly, this was something that neither of them was willing or able to do.

Buckingham emerges from these pages as a complex and brilliant and flawed man, someone who was able to ascend to the greatest heights of power thanks to his charisma and his beauty–and his wits–but who was really out of his depth when it came to military matters, no matter what the king or the duke might think. Buckingham’s tragedy was that was never really able to accept that he wasn’t the military genius that he thought he was.

This isn’t to say that he didn’t try, because he did. As Hughes-Hallett points out time and again, Buckingham wasn’t the type to just rest on his laurels. He really did give his all to try to make these various military adventures succeed. It’s hardly his fault–or not entirely his fault, anyway–that he was never given the money that he really needed to see his visions into a reality. It is his fault, though, that he refused to see this and kept pushing for a war in Europe even when it was clear that this was never going to come to pass and that, even if it did, Britain wasn’t likely to benefit.

While Buckingham obviously occupies the lion’s share of the narrative, Hughes-Hallett also gives us insight into the many other larger-than-life characters who also occupy this remarkable drama. There are, of course, the two kings, both of whom refused to acknowledge that times were changing and that their vision of an autocratic monarchy simply wasn’t going to be sustainable in the face of pressure from the House of Commons. However, there are a number of other interesting personages that strut across the story, including artists, diplomats and, of course, the women who were a key part of Buckingham’s life, including his mother, Mary, and his wife, Katherine.

All in all, this is a fascinating look at a deeply controversial figure who continues to fascinate us today.

[Drake McCrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciate the quality of the content and research the way it was broken down into small chunks almost like a Wikipedia article drove me nuts. I found it very disruptive to the flow of overall narrative.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would rate this 4.5 out of 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and Harper Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Brief Summary: George Villiers was born a second son to a minor gentleman in England and rose to the heights of British politics. Becoming a favourite of James VI of Scotland and I of England, Villiers started his meteoric rise to the Dukedom of Buckingham. However, Villiers' swift rise to power did not gain him any friends among the Lords or the Commons. Politically skilled, but militarily inept Hughes-Hallett examines the impact of Villiers on British Politics and the Stuart Dynasty from his first appearance at court to his untimely death.

Thoughts: This was an exceptionally captivating biography. Hughes-Hallett's writing style draws the reader into the vivid and tumultuous courts of James VI and I and his son Charles I. There are many points where you feel you are watching a play of events rather than reading them on the page. However, the structure of the book often muddles the sequence of events. Perhaps it is because I am not as familiar with this time in history, but I had difficulty following when certain things happened in Villiers' life, for example, the births of his children. It was unclear to me when his heir Charles was born and how much of an age gap there was between his daughter Mary and Charles.

I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of life at the Stuart court during Villiers' lifetime, but in some ways, these details subsumed the biography. The loadstar of this book is Villiers as all the events are tied to him in some way. However, there is often more detail about the governing nature of both James and Charles Stuart outside of their relationships with Villiers. These details are interesting and help to frame why Villiers made certain choices throughout his life, but it did feel like this book was more than just a simple biography of one man. Hughes-Hallett's work demonstrates that you cannot discuss Stuart politics without including him.

The shining moment in this book was the discussion of Charles (later Charles I) and Villiers' trip to Spain. I had heard of this event in other books, but the level of detail that Hughes-Hallett included from the primary sources paints an evocative picture of events. After reading this section I began to contemplate if James's relationship with Villiers might shed some light on how James parented Charles and Charles' later developed obstinacy. Hughes-Hallett highlights how James often referred to Villiers as his "son" and Villiers in turn referred to James as his 'father" in letters. I find it interesting that Villiers and Charles took the same approach to the Spanish match and later when Charles was King he and Villiers were very good friends. Was James cultivating something in Charles that he liked about Villiers or did the mere association with James strengthen similar parts of Villiers and Charles' personalities? I also appreciated how Hughes-Hallett infused humour into her assessment of the trip to Spain. Given the evidence, it was a foolish idea to have undertaken.

The material history of Villiers' life was also fascinating. The clear description of his lavish dress and interest in art helped to flesh out Villiers as a person rather than simply a political player. His tastes were lavish and expensive for the time, even for a person of his rank. The description of his jewels and clothes and how he had himself depicted in art.

If you want to understand the early reign of the Stuarts in England I recommend you pick up a copy of this book. Hughes-Hallett weaves a captivating narrative about court dynamics, parliamentary politics, and human connection at the heart of the court.

Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

[Nick Artrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I requested and received an eARC of The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham by Lucy Hughes-Hallett via NetGalley. This must be my year of reading about the Stuarts and their lovers and I am happy to be adding this title to my list. I was especially excited to see this on NetGalley after watching Mary & George earlier this year. Although the television program proved to be an occasionally tepid affair, the history remained fascinating. In Hughes-Hallett’s work George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham takes center stage as the author explores his origins and his meteoric rise as James I’s favorite.

The introduction to the text addressed two points that really interested me going into this work. Hughes-Hallett’s suggests that perhaps Buckingham wasn’t the monster some chose to portray him as (making him the titular scapegoat) and that those who knew him most intimately thought him kind, courteous and modest. The author also suggests that Buckingham and those connected with him in many ways subverted gender roles and traditional familial relationships. These claims are backed by the text that follows and are often used to pose very interesting questions that provide for a more nuanced understanding of the subject matter.

This was a captivating account of an often misaligned man. The text is well-sourced and the cast of characters who make up this history are well explained. Although this is quite lengthy, there are frequent chapter breaks, and the information is presented in a digestible way making it quite easy to put down this book and pick it up again without feeling lost. Hughes-Hallett uses Buckingham's and James’ personal histories to make interesting assessments of their characters. I particularly enjoyed the sections about James I’s childhood, the relationship between Buckingham and his mother, as well as the bits about Buckingham and Francis Bacon.

Perhaps, most importantly, this was a fun read! History can often be dry, but that isn’t the case here. Hughes-Hallett leaves no stone unturned as she explains the art, culture and prevailing attitudes of the era, while also providing enough salacious history to make for a very interesting reading experience. I found myself wanting a glimpse of Buckingham's famous legs or wondering how he might have spoken. I really appreciate the way the author breaks down complex understandings of friendship and sexuality in the early Stuart era. Being both informative and entertaining can be a difficult task, but Hughes-Hallett seems to excel at it. I will absolutely be adding a physical copy of this book to my library as soon as I can get my hands on it!

[Mark Cornelius · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an odd way to run a country, even in the seventeenth century. George Villiers, from relatively humble beginnings, became the most powerful man in England outside the royal family, because James I fancied him. It wasn’t just his dashing good looks. He was also a good dancer and horseman! His power survived the King’s death, because James’ son, Charles I, also loved and trusted the man who by then had become the Duke of Buckingham. The modern equivalent of this rise to power might have been Queen Elizabeth II making Simon Le Bon Prime Minister because she liked the ‘Rio’ video and Simon’s cheeky grin, with Charles III keeping Le Bon in power, after discovering what a wonderful song ‘Ordinary World’ was.

So there was an interesting story to be told about Buckingham’s life. Sadly, Lucy Hughes-Hallett doesn’t manage to tell it. The book is far too long. There seems to be a trend whereby established authors are allowed to write exactly what they like without being introduced to an editor. Even though the book is meant to be about the Duke of Buckingham, for large parts of it he is not the central character. He is off-stage, while the book focuses on James I. No doubt this provides context, but equally it could have been much shorter, or dropped altogether. It felt as it the author had gathered loads of material that she was reluctant to relinquish. Indeed, she often seems to have simply dropped her research notes straight into the book, rather than write a proper narrative.

When she does begin to focus on Buckingham, we don’t really get to know him that well and what motivates him, except perhaps money, status and collecting art. With all the letters everybody was writing, surely we could have been given more insight than that?

Another failing lies in the title, “Scapegoat”. This isn’t really addressed until very near the end of the book. The theory is that nobody was going to find fault in the king for anything. But everybody was clearly disgruntled, and so they directed their ire at his favourite, Buckingham. The complaints against Buckingham were weird and over-the-top. He may have been incompetent at times, but the charges levelled at him by parliament and the public at large were wild distortions. It would have been good to explore this contrast between the truth and the slander a bit more, rather than relying on the glib scapegoat explanation, especially as it is the title of the book.

A much better book about this period is Queen James by Gareth Russell, it’s shorter and more readable.