The Last Cavalier: Richard Talbot

by Padraig Lenihan

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 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.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published November 28, 2014

About the author

Padraig Lenihan lectures in history at the National University of Ireland Galway. Before his academic career, Lenihan served in the army where he attained the rank of captain.