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Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters: An Outrageous Englishwoman and Her Lost Kingdom
Philip Eade
€ 16.99
€ 11.82
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Description for Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters: An Outrageous Englishwoman and Her Lost Kingdom
Paperback. A biography of the last Ranee of Sarawak, born into the aristocracy as Sylvia Brett in 1885 and destined to become 'Queen of the Headhunters'. Num Pages: 384 pages, 85, 1 maps. BIC Classification: 1FMNX; 3JH; 3JJ; BGH; HBJF; HBLW. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 197 x 129 x 26. Weight in Grams: 344.
The biography of the last Ranee of Sarawak, born into the aristocracy as Sylvia Brett in 1885 and destined to become 'Queen of the Headhunters'.
'Jaw-dropping ... If you thought White Mischief the last word in English expatriate decadence, you haven't yet met Sylvia and the Brookes' The Times
Sylvia Brooke was the consort of His Highness Sir Vyner Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, the last in a bizarre dynasty of English despots who ruled their jungle kingdom on Borneo until 1946. The White Rajahs were long held up as model rulers, but the spectacularly eccentric behaviour of Ranee Sylvia - self-styled Queen of the Headhunters - changed everything. This is the compelling story of her part in their downfall.
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2008
Publisher
Orion Publishing Co London
Number of pages
384
Condition
New
Number of Pages
384
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780753823811
SKU
V9780753823811
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 5 to 9 working days
Ref
99-50
About Philip Eade
Philip Eade is the author of three highly acclaimed biographies: Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters (2007), Young Prince Philip (2011) and Evelyn Waugh: A Life Revisited (2016). Born in Shropshire and educated at Marlborough and at Bristol University, where he read History, he now lives in London with his wife and daughter.
Reviews for Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters: An Outrageous Englishwoman and Her Lost Kingdom
An incredible story
DAILY MAIL
In Philip Eade this 'most charming of despots' has met her match. He is a natural writer: percipient, sympathetic, amusing . . . those who have never heard of Sylvia Brooke are in for a treat
Michael Holroyd It's fantastic material. Well spotted, Eade. Does he do it justice? Yes . . . Alongside the complexities of colonial politics, Eade brings her loves and losses, her heights and depths, to poignant life. It's all here: the bonking, the boozing, the pathos and the bathos . . . This is a delightful book, and proof that truth is stranger than fiction
Ross Leckie
THE TIMES
Eade has uncovered a mine of marvellous material and handles it all with consummate wit and style . . . a dazzling debut
Hugh Massingberd
COUNTRY LIFE
Juicily entertaining . . . an exceptional life, one to which Eade does rich justice
Miranda Seymour
MAIL ON SUNDAY
Eade is eminently readable, with a detective's pertinacity at finding the clues to forgotten secrets and a raconteur's gift for sustaining his narrative interest . . . a rollicking good read
Richard Davenport-Hines
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
A scrupulous researcher . . . [Eade] writes with panache
Sara Wheeler
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Jaw-dropping . . . If you thought White Mischief the last word in English expatriate decadence, you haven't yet met Sylvia and the Brookes
THE TIMES
Amazing and hilarious
Christopher Foyle
DAILY EXPRESS
The kind of gift subject that biographers must dream of . . . Colourful anecdotes of eccentricity, lunacy and infidelity crowd every page
Christopher Hart
SUNDAY TIMES, Books of the Year
A thorough, fascinating and rather giddying book . . . sensational
Lynne Truss
SUNDAY TIMES
The unbelievable story of the outlandish last Ranee of Sarawak was the most gripping biography of 2007; stylish, funny, poignant, crammed with eccentrics, it may yet be a slow-burn bestseller
Bartle Bull
PROSPECT, Books of the Year
Philip Eade's stylish narrative never flags, nor his command of humour and irony. It is an altogether memorable work, the first I hope of many
Kenneth Rose Richly entertaining
IRISH TIMES
An enthralling study of an extraordinary woman
Joanna Lumley
DAILY MAIL
In Philip Eade this 'most charming of despots' has met her match. He is a natural writer: percipient, sympathetic, amusing . . . those who have never heard of Sylvia Brooke are in for a treat
Michael Holroyd It's fantastic material. Well spotted, Eade. Does he do it justice? Yes . . . Alongside the complexities of colonial politics, Eade brings her loves and losses, her heights and depths, to poignant life. It's all here: the bonking, the boozing, the pathos and the bathos . . . This is a delightful book, and proof that truth is stranger than fiction
Ross Leckie
THE TIMES
Eade has uncovered a mine of marvellous material and handles it all with consummate wit and style . . . a dazzling debut
Hugh Massingberd
COUNTRY LIFE
Juicily entertaining . . . an exceptional life, one to which Eade does rich justice
Miranda Seymour
MAIL ON SUNDAY
Eade is eminently readable, with a detective's pertinacity at finding the clues to forgotten secrets and a raconteur's gift for sustaining his narrative interest . . . a rollicking good read
Richard Davenport-Hines
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
A scrupulous researcher . . . [Eade] writes with panache
Sara Wheeler
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Jaw-dropping . . . If you thought White Mischief the last word in English expatriate decadence, you haven't yet met Sylvia and the Brookes
THE TIMES
Amazing and hilarious
Christopher Foyle
DAILY EXPRESS
The kind of gift subject that biographers must dream of . . . Colourful anecdotes of eccentricity, lunacy and infidelity crowd every page
Christopher Hart
SUNDAY TIMES, Books of the Year
A thorough, fascinating and rather giddying book . . . sensational
Lynne Truss
SUNDAY TIMES
The unbelievable story of the outlandish last Ranee of Sarawak was the most gripping biography of 2007; stylish, funny, poignant, crammed with eccentrics, it may yet be a slow-burn bestseller
Bartle Bull
PROSPECT, Books of the Year
Philip Eade's stylish narrative never flags, nor his command of humour and irony. It is an altogether memorable work, the first I hope of many
Kenneth Rose Richly entertaining
IRISH TIMES
An enthralling study of an extraordinary woman
Joanna Lumley