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Amanda Vickery - A History of Private Life

Amanda Vickery - A History of Private Life: Episode 21: Magnificence

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Factual: History

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Episode 21

Episode 21: Magnificence

Magnificence

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Amanda Vickery - A History of Private Life, Magnificence

One celebrity divorce was quite the scandal, because the husband was the prime minister.

Historian Amanda Vickery's tale of a scandalous celebrity divorce, where the husband was prime minster. What did the wife get?

Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. 

These days we take it for granted that the home is a place of refuge in which we express our true self; that idea was an invention of the 18th century. Prof Vickery explores the invention of taste, and the role of interior decor in creating both social prestige and a successful marriage.

The story of a celebrity divorce - a huge scandal, because the husband was the prime minister. The question then, as now, was what was the woman going to walk away with? 

Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak.

Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard.

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.

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Historian Amanda Vickery reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years

Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years, drawing on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries

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