The Duchess by Amanda Foreman
Fascinating biography on Georgiana Spencer/Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire (the same Duchess played by Kiera Knightley in the 2008 movie based off this biography) which covers her private life, public life, affairs, gambling addiction and debts, trend-setting fashions, and political endeavours while strictly dealing in facts. I can easily see how Hollywood changed pieces of Georgiana's life to suit their dramatized view. The biography gives the reader more than just an acquaintance with the subject, it gives the reader a portrait of the entire time period's social and political events as well as redefines the traditional view that women had no say in their lives and were completely controlled by their husbands. Georgiana Spencer/Cavendish was a major political player, trend-setter, author, and is one of the people responsible for England's definitive bi-partisanship.
I never read non-fiction since I get enough of sort of thing by reading text books and scientific papers but I grabbed a copy of this book at a Friends of the Library sale this past summer for shits and giggles (I've been interested in the time period ever since watching the 6 hour version of Pride and Prejudice and Emma as a child). Considering this was a book I only read while on the train it took me a bit of time to get through it, especially since it isn't a short book to begin with, but in the end I thoroughly enjoyed my venture into non-fiction.
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