If there is one thing that people can count on, it is that people who are in positions of power or wealth are going to be involved in some type of scandalous shenanagins. Another thing that you can pretty much take to the bank is that people enjoy gossip and intrigue. In the Georgian Era, servants were always privy to the secret doings of their employers and their guests. Servants would discuss the goings on below stairs in their private world amongst themselves. Of course, over the years, this has evolved into paparazzi stalking celebrities and the nobility, plastering stories all over their papers. The stories, then and now, didn't have to necessarily be bathed in truth as long as they were interesting and fed people's desire to speculate.

People today act very shocked when those in positions of power or with notoriety cheat on their partners, pick up sex workers, or get involved in other questionable activity. There is also another issue that I have personally noticed in reviews of the last few historical biographies I have read- people seem to think that if a person does one questionable or inappropriate thing, that negates anything else they have done in their career or life. It is interesting to see the evolution of gossip and beliefs about inappropriate activities. I thought this book was really interesting, as well as thought provoking.