author
Baron John Hervey Hervey
1696–1743
A sharp-eyed insider at the court of George II, he left behind some of the most vivid and revealing memoirs of 18th-century British political life. His writing mixes gossip, power struggles, and firsthand observation in a way that still feels lively today.
1 Audiobook
The Scribleriad, and The Difference Between Verbal and Practical Virtue
by Anonymous, Baron John Hervey Hervey
About the author
Born in 1696, John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, was an English courtier, politician, and writer closely connected to the world of Robert Walpole and the court of George II. He was the eldest surviving son of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, and became known as Lord Hervey in 1723.
Hervey served in public life as a Whig politician and held court offices, but he is best remembered for his memoirs and political writing. His Memoirs of the Reign of George the Second became especially valued for their detailed, often candid picture of court intrigue, personalities, and power in early 18th-century Britain.
He died in 1743. Modern readers usually meet him not just as a statesman, but as a remarkably observant narrator of his age—someone whose account helps bring the Hanoverian court to life.