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The Serpent and the Stag: The Saga of England's Powerful and Glamourous Cavendish Family from the Age of Henry the Eighth to the Present
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318 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 1983
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About the author
John George Pearson
30 books24 followersJohn Pearson was a writer best associated with James Bond creator Ian Fleming. He was Fleming's assistant at the London Sunday Times and would go on to write the first biography of Ian Fleming, 1966's The Life of Ian Fleming. Pearson also wrote "true-crime" biographies, such as The Profession of Violence: an East End gang story about the rise and fall of the Kray twins.
Pearson would also become the third official James Bond author of the adult-Bond series, writing in 1973 James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, a first-person biography of the fictional agent James Bond. Although the canonical nature of this book has been debated by Bond fans since it was published, it was officially authorized by Glidrose Publications, the official publisher of the James Bond chronicles. Glidrose reportedly considered commissioning Pearson to write a new series of Bond novels in the 1970s, but nothing came of this.
Pearson was commissioned by Donald Campbell to chronicle his successful attempt on the Land Speed Record in 1964 in Bluebird CN7, resulting in the book Bluebird and the Dead Lake.
Pearson wrote the non-fiction book, The Gamblers, an account about the group of gamblers who made up, what was known as the Clermont Set, which included John Aspinall, James Goldsmith and Lord Lucan. The film rights to the book were purchased by Warner Bros. in 2006. He also wrote Façades, the first full-scale biography of the literary Sitwell siblings, Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell, published in 1978.
Pearson also wrote five novels:
Gone To Timbuctoo (1962) - winner of the Author's Club First Novel Award
James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 (1973)
The Bellamy Saga (1976)
Biggles: The Authorized Biography (1978)
The Kindness of Dr. Avicenna (1982).
Pearson passed away on November 13, 2021. He was ninety one at the time of his death.
Pearson would also become the third official James Bond author of the adult-Bond series, writing in 1973 James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, a first-person biography of the fictional agent James Bond. Although the canonical nature of this book has been debated by Bond fans since it was published, it was officially authorized by Glidrose Publications, the official publisher of the James Bond chronicles. Glidrose reportedly considered commissioning Pearson to write a new series of Bond novels in the 1970s, but nothing came of this.
Pearson was commissioned by Donald Campbell to chronicle his successful attempt on the Land Speed Record in 1964 in Bluebird CN7, resulting in the book Bluebird and the Dead Lake.
Pearson wrote the non-fiction book, The Gamblers, an account about the group of gamblers who made up, what was known as the Clermont Set, which included John Aspinall, James Goldsmith and Lord Lucan. The film rights to the book were purchased by Warner Bros. in 2006. He also wrote Façades, the first full-scale biography of the literary Sitwell siblings, Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell, published in 1978.
Pearson also wrote five novels:
Gone To Timbuctoo (1962) - winner of the Author's Club First Novel Award
James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 (1973)
The Bellamy Saga (1976)
Biggles: The Authorized Biography (1978)
The Kindness of Dr. Avicenna (1982).
Pearson passed away on November 13, 2021. He was ninety one at the time of his death.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 3, 2013
This book could earn more stars from the more generous. However, it is at best a book of information, not enlightenment. In too many places it pre-supposes a grasp of English politics and structures which I have knowledge of, but not firm grasp.
Reading this book did, however, provoke a thought, and that is I have spent a better part of my intellectual reading on literature of a small island I have visited twice, and the last time when it was somewhat shut down. (Christmas Week. Do not go then.)
This is a testament to that islands great influence over me, which shall continue. What I had not grasped until reading this book was that the genetics of a single family, as well as it's inherited processes of thought, have had an overwhelming impact on my society here in America, sometimes to our detriment. A good deal of what tears the fabric of our political discourse here is the influencing concerns of the Cavendish as exercised over four centuries. Primarily it is in the belief that superiority comes from supported influence. It began with its influence on social order and royal dictation, gained through landed possession. That changed as wealth emerged as superior to land-ownership as the expression of influence.
That singular idea, that wealth determines superiority, is rotting us. But we are not alone. We are predicated to rot, whether we employ wealth, or violence, or land-rights, or beauty, to suggest superiority. A conservative ideal that the Cavendishes did exercise, in varying degrees, that seems to have escaped transmittal to the USA, is the responsibility of the superior to the inferior. That was a necessary act of compassion, though, because to not exercise that would invite riotous violence against them. They were not stupid.
It has made me wonder why this lack of compassion in our own society has not inflamed the countryside to violent acts. Perhaps it shall. Or, and this will require more thought on my part, perhaps there is something influencing the common folk that the Cavendishes did not have to consider as a tool to avoid destruction.
An intersting book, about which nothing more need be offered.
Reading this book did, however, provoke a thought, and that is I have spent a better part of my intellectual reading on literature of a small island I have visited twice, and the last time when it was somewhat shut down. (Christmas Week. Do not go then.)
This is a testament to that islands great influence over me, which shall continue. What I had not grasped until reading this book was that the genetics of a single family, as well as it's inherited processes of thought, have had an overwhelming impact on my society here in America, sometimes to our detriment. A good deal of what tears the fabric of our political discourse here is the influencing concerns of the Cavendish as exercised over four centuries. Primarily it is in the belief that superiority comes from supported influence. It began with its influence on social order and royal dictation, gained through landed possession. That changed as wealth emerged as superior to land-ownership as the expression of influence.
That singular idea, that wealth determines superiority, is rotting us. But we are not alone. We are predicated to rot, whether we employ wealth, or violence, or land-rights, or beauty, to suggest superiority. A conservative ideal that the Cavendishes did exercise, in varying degrees, that seems to have escaped transmittal to the USA, is the responsibility of the superior to the inferior. That was a necessary act of compassion, though, because to not exercise that would invite riotous violence against them. They were not stupid.
It has made me wonder why this lack of compassion in our own society has not inflamed the countryside to violent acts. Perhaps it shall. Or, and this will require more thought on my part, perhaps there is something influencing the common folk that the Cavendishes did not have to consider as a tool to avoid destruction.
An intersting book, about which nothing more need be offered.
January 3, 2015
The modern Cavendish family was founded by the redoubtable Bess of Hardwick who married into wealth not once but four times and built an empire. By her second husband, Sir William Cavendish, she had five children, including William (who was created Earl of Cavendish), Charles (whose son was created Duke of Newcastle), Elizabeth (mother, by Charles Stuart, of Arabella Stuart, claimant to the throne, and who died in the Tower), and Mary (whose husband, a Talbot, inherited the earldom of Shrewsbury from Bess’s fourth husband). This book follows the story of the younger William’s descendants and Pearson does a good job of getting behind the state portraits and stately homes (including the fabulous Chatsworth in Derbyshire) to the almost excessively human members of the family. The earls and dukes of Devonshire tended to marry well, including links to the Russells, Howards, Spencers, Butlers, Cecils, Fitzmaurices, and Greys, and even the sister of President John F. Kennedy. The family also produced Charles Cavendish, a leading mathematician and close friend of Descartes, and, a century and a half later, Henry Cavendish, discoverer of hydrogen. Pearson does a very creditable job of recounting the history of a fascinating family.
March 1, 2017
This book was given to me as a gift because they thought it would intrigue me. While I'm enticed by family history, especially one that is illustrious and intertwined with history, the presentation of this saga did not capture me like I had hoped. Even though I enjoyed the information and history of this family, the author didn't "show" me the family, he told me about them.
July 13, 2009
This book was very interesting. It was hard for me to get through sometimes because there was so much history involved. I did learn a lot of information. I would recommmend this book for others to read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews