Overview

From two veteran historians comes an intelligent and spirited history of Charles II's dissolute life and surprising legacy. To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything but private. His amorous liaisons were largely conducted in royal palaces surrounded by friends, courtiers, and literally hundreds of servants and soldiers. Gossip radiated throughout the kingdom. Charles spent most of his wealth and his intellect on gaining and keeping the company of women, from the lowest of society such as the actress Nell Gwyn to the aristocratic Louise de Kerouaille. Some of Charles' women played their part in the affairs of state, coloring the way the nation was run. The authors take us inside Charles' palace, where we will meet court favorites, amusing confidants, advisors jockeying for political power, mistresses past and present, as well as key figures in Charles' inner circle, including his pimpmasters and his personal pox doctor. The astonishing personal life of Charles II reveals much about the man he was and why he lived and ruled as he did. The King's Bed tells the compelling story of a king ruled by his passion.

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9781504686860

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Reviews

The authors make excellent use of a great wealth of resources...The authors' easy, readable style makes this a solid biography of Charles II, full of sturdy history and enough salacious information to keep it interesting. -- Kirkus Reviews Well researched. Those interested in royal history and scandals will delight in the stories and characters contained within these pages. -- Library Journal A balanced narrative. Jordan and Walsh excel in describing the king's unusual willingness to claim and promote many of his illegitimate children. Authentic insight on how salacious sex and the pursuit of pleasure ruled a troubled king. -- Publishers Weekly While amply fulfilling the salacious promise of its title, this very listenable history of the Merry Monarch and his crew turns out also to be well researched and well written. Narrator Steve West delivers all this in the most proper English and with subdued relish...Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award. -- AudioFile An entertaining history of the antics of the libidinous King Charles II and his licentious court. Tells you everything you need to know about seventeenth-century sex. -- Tatler (UK) While showing that 'never again would an English royal court reverberate with such fun and vigor, so much youthful swagger and sexuality, ' the book makes clear that Charles' sex addiction had its darker side. -- Mail on Sunday (London) These romps through Charles' bed chamber are wonderfully lively. -- Sunday Times (London)

Author Information

Don Jordan and Michael Walsh have each won awards for investigative journalism. Don Jordan has twice won a Blue Ribbon Award at the New York Film and Television Festival, and Michael Walsh has won a Royal Television Society Award. Together they have written four books, including White Cargo, acclaimed by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison as an extraordinary book. Don Jordan and Michael Walsh have each won awards for investigative journalism. Don Jordan has twice won a Blue Ribbon Award at the New York Film and Television Festival, and Michael Walsh has won a Royal Television Society Award. Together they have written four books, including White Cargo, acclaimed by Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison as an extraordinary book. Steve West, the winner of multiple Earphones Awards for narration, is an international actor who has starred on London's prestigious West End stage, including productions of Mamma Mia! and Oh, What a Night! He is widely known for his television and film work in both the United States and the UK, and he has performed for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. He hosts his own television show for the UK live from Los Angeles.

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