The Last Cavalier: Richard Talbot (1631-91)

Left for dead at the sack of Drogheda, Richard Talbot later ingratiated himself with the future James II by plotting to assassinate Oliver Cromwell. Using fresh primary sources The Last Cavalier: Richard Talbot (1631-91) traces how Talbot, though a gallant, gamester and 'cunning dissembling courtier', grew to be more than just another Restoration rake. He took on the cause of reconciling his countrymen's allegiance to London and to Rome and, under a Catholic king, clawing back their lost status and power. Talbot, now Earl of Tyrconnell and viceroy, almost succeeded but after the Boyne (where he led the Jacobite army in battle) he lost his grip. The Last Cavalier is the first full-scale biography of a great though not a good man.