12 h 40 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a young man has a vast fortune, every pleasure within reach, and no one to say no?
In Benjamin Disraeli’s The Young Duke, George Augustus Frederick inherits the dukedom of St James while still very young. With the habits of a boy and the power of a prince, he enters London society. Fine clothes, lavish dinners and the chase for admiration fill his days. But what can all this freedom teach him?
Around him, Lady Aphrodite and his cousin Charles Annesley move easily through the fashionable world. May Dacre stands apart. Her seriousness and good sense make the duke look differently at a life devoted to amusement. Behind the glitter, Disraeli explores whether a talented young man can find something worth wanting beyond pleasure.
What you’ll discover
- A fortune without limits Follow a young nobleman whose wealth gives him freedom before he knows how to use it.
- London in full glitter Step among fashionable dinners, fine clothes and drawing rooms where admiration becomes a pursuit.
- Good sense amid glamour Meet May Dacre, whose thoughtful presence challenges the duke’s easy devotion to amusement.
- A narrator with opinions Enjoy a talkative guide who jokes about the characters and speaks straight to you.
- Satire with a heart Discover sharp wit and sudden feeling beneath the sparkle of aristocratic life.
Who will love it
Readers who love Regency society, sparkling dialogue and satire of the rich, and anyone drawn to a story of reckless youth, first love and a young man learning who he is.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A boy raised by flatterers
- Palaces, pleasures and a pale beauty
- Doncaster and the girl he did not know
- Castle Dacre and a first refusal
- The Bird of Paradise and a quarrel at dawn
- A wounded man, a faded passion, a second no
- Satiety, gambling and a vanished fortune
- Back to Dacre, and a long ride to London
- How the book is told, and what it is about
Who’s who
- George, Duke of St. JamesA young, handsome and enormously rich nobleman, raised on flattery, who wants to be the admired master of fashionable London and wants to be loved.
- May DacreMr. Dacre's brilliant, witty daughter, a Catholic of ancient family, who sees through the Duke at once and wants a man of principle.
- Mr. DacreThe Duke's guardian, a patient and generous Catholic gentleman, who wants to guide his ward and see his daughter happy.
- Lord Fitz-pompeyThe Duke's scheming uncle, who flatters his nephew from childhood and wants to see his daughter Caroline made Duchess of St. James.
- Lady Caroline St. MauriceThe Duke's gentle cousin and childhood playmate, who loves him loyally and hopes, though her parents plot on her behalf, that he will be happy.
- Sir Lucius GraftonA handsome, charming rake and the Duke's old schoolfellow, who wants to be free of his wife and to marry again for his own gain.
- Lady Aphrodite GraftonSir Lucius's wife, a beautiful and sorrowful woman, who gives her heart to the Duke and wants to be loved in return.
- Arundel DacreMay's proud and awkward cousin, heir to the Dacre estates, who longs to make his own name in Parliament.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 12 h 40 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Le Jeune Duc
by Benjamin Disraeli · 1831
A young Duke with half a million pounds spends two glittering years in London and learns what money cannot buy.
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In short
The Young Duke is a novel by Benjamin Disraeli, published in 1831, when he was a young man and long before he became prime minister. It follows George Augustus Frederick, Duke of St. James, who comes of age as one of the richest men in Europe.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boy raised by flatterers
The story opens on the day the Duke of St. James turns twenty-one. Twenty years of minority have made his family fortune enormous, and the whole of aristocratic England takes notice. His late father named a Catholic gentleman, Mr. Dacre of Castle Dacre, as guardian. The boy's uncle and aunt, the Earl and Countess of Fitz-pompey, were not chosen, and they never forgive it.
From the Duke's childhood the Fitz-pompeys work to win him. They shower the boy with pineapples, ponies and praise, and they make his school headmaster their friend. Mr. Dacre is trusting and kind, and he believes he is leaving his ward in good hands. When his wife falls ill and the family must go abroad to Italy, the way is wide open for the uncle.
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What is The Young Duke about?
It follows George, Duke of St. James, a very rich young man who enters Regency London society, spends his fortune on pleasure and races, and learns through loss, love and friendship what a life of pleasure alone cannot give.
Who is May Dacre in The Young Duke?
May Dacre is the clever, high-spirited daughter of the Duke's guardian, Mr. Dacre. She is a Catholic, and she sees the Duke's faults at once, which makes her the one woman he truly wants to win.
When was The Young Duke written and published?
Benjamin Disraeli published it in 1831, when he was a young man. It is a novel, not a true story, though it draws on the manners, clubs and fashions of London society in his own day.
The author
Benjamin Disraeli
1804–1881 · British statesman and novelist
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) was a British politician and novelist. He was born in London and lived in England. His novels include Henrietta Temple (1837), Coningsby (1844), Sybil (1845), and Tancred (1847). He led the Conservative Party and served as British prime minister in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880.
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