Lucy Hughes-Hallett: The Scapegoat

This is the story of the meteoric rise and fall of George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham. He was the favourite, confidant, gate-keeper and lover of James I. When Charles I succeeded, Buckingham was the new king’s friend and mentor. His beauty gave him immense wealth and power. His life ended in an assassination in Portsmouth. But what a life of masques, dancing, art, gender-fluidity, kidnappings and murder plots.

Lucy Hughes-Hallett is the author of "The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio" and of the cultural history of Cleopatra.