Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier [Hardcover]

A full examination of the life of the Prince would require more volumes than an encyclopaedia so Charles Spencer has instead provided an exciting, if partisan, romp through the different stages of the life of one of history's most fascinating characters. It is, marred in places, by, it has to be said, overpunctuation, but once you are ensconced in the story such minor concerns are easily overlooked. Spencer paints Prince Rupert without any real negative points, and at times will readily ignore history in order not to sully the reputation of his subject (who was, by most accounts, sometimes a little more than the mischevious little scamp Spencer portrays him as). Taken with a pinch of salt, and a little bit of knowledge about the civil war, you can ignore the historical inaccuracies and enjoy the story.

Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp, seems to be a slightly old fashioned figure. Or, at least, this is a slightly old fashioned book. It should have been written in the 1920s, when well-connected figures were always supplementing their income, and propping up the ancestral pile, by knocking off the odd quick life of a renowned ancestor (John Churchill) or romantic figure (Prince Rupert). OK, they might not have been completely up-to-date with the latest nuances in historical scholarship. But they were witty, fun, fluent and readable.

Charles Spencer shares a lot of these virtues and vices. On the downside, this is not a `scholarly' book. I don't just mean that he doesn't always appreciate the narrow grain of, say, 17th Century political or religious history. I mean sometimes he makes out and out blunders. He's particular (excuse the pun) all at sea when it comes to Prince Rupert's naval career: for example, in his description of the Battle of Lowestoft he's wrong about the date (it was 13th June 1665 not 3rd June) the name (he confuses it with the 1672 Battle of Solebay) and the result (claiming that 20 Dutch vessels were `sunk'; the correct figure seems to be 17, of which only 8 were sunk, the others being captured - anyone who knows anything about 17th and 18th Century naval warfare should be put on their guard by this claim, as vessels were much more commonly captured than sunk). With mistakes as basic as these, I was left wondering just what else he'd got wrong.

Lowestoft also illustrates another of Spencer's faults: he tells us that James Duke of York's failure to follow up the initial victory was caused by Lord Henry Brounker's decision to order James's captain to shorten sail during the night (possibly on the orders of James's mother). This is presented as fact, but actually is only a rumour - other explanations have been put forward. And, generally, Spencer has a tendency to report rumour as fact if it makes a good story. Although it would be wrong to suggest that he lacks discrimination - many of his judgements are undeniably fair, and he can see his hero's shortcomings as a commander - his world is one of goodies and baddies, bluff, irascible men of action and honour (Rupert and his brother Maurice) against scheming courtiers (Digby), meddlers (Queen Henrietta) and, later, pompous civil servants (Pepys).

This, in a way, is his virtue. The book reads very well. It barrels along like a cavalry charge. Incidental details are nicely chosen to illustrate points of Prince Rupert's character, and the book is filled with great stories. The action is nicely described and kept well to the foreground, so the book is never dull. There's also a lot about Prince Rupert's other activities - in art and science - which I hadn't previously appreciated. And he's benefited from access to the Royal archives to make use of personal letters from and to Charles I, which are extremely interesting in themselves.

The three star rating is a compromise. If you're looking for a way into 17th Century history, don't bother with this at all. Many people make a better fist of the political and religious background. Frank Kitson is better on the Prince's military career. If you're after a good, fun, engagingly written one-volume life, however, this is as good a place to start as any.

Prince Rupert - The Last Cavalier by Charles Spencer is a very good book about a legendary figure from the Civil War and Restoration era. It shows how Prince Rupert's life was dominated by both the religious wars ravaging Europe in the seventeenth century and the Royalist cause in Britian. However, it also shows a man who was not just a soldier and a sailor but actually a patron of the arts and an accomplished amateur in the fields of engineering and science. It is well-written, fast paced and very interesting even if it is slightly biased and at times lacks detail. All in all it is a very good book dealing with a figure surrounded with mythology and Cavalier romance whose life was dominated by adventures and misfortunes but eventually found stability in his adopted homeland.