At the climax of the feast, a large pie is set down before the Queen, who is given a knife and invited to cut into the pastry. Before she can do so, however, the crust begins to crack and rise of its own accord. From out of the pie emerges a tiny man-perfectly proportioned and dressed in a suit of miniature armor. He climbs onto the table in front of the Queen, bows low, and asks to be taken into her service. The little man's name is Jeffrey Hudson. He is seven years old and stands only eighteen inches tall. Lord Minimus is the first complete biography of Hudson. Drawn from original, contemporary sources, Nick Page weaves a tale that is not only a thrilling biography, but also a fascinating insight into the seventeenth century. For a man of such diminutive stature, Hudson lived life on a grand scale. 'The smallest man in England' ventured forth from a humble rural background to set course on an episodic roller coaster that led him to the edges of the known world. From the lowest strata he rose to the courts of Kings and Queens. Van Dyck painted his portrait and he performed in one of Ben Jonson's famous masques. Sir Walter Scott wrote of Hudson's exploits in the English civil war. The pocket-sized companion of the Queen also killed a man in a duel, was captured by pirates, and spent years in slavery. Ultimately, he died alone and forgotten, abandoned by an indifferent society that had long ago moved on to the next object of fashion. The story of Jeffrey Hudson is most notably a story of hope and dignity, of how one man refused to accept his physical limitations, even though it was to cost him everything. In this sympathetic retelling of the career of the man known as "Lord Minimus," Page (The Tabloid Shakespeare; In search of the World's Worst Writers) offers a fascinating perspective on the opulent lifestyle of the court of Queen Henrietta Maria and Charles I and on 17th-century social history. Jeffrey Hudson, the 18-inch tall "official dwarf" of the Stuart court, made his first appearance before royalty in 1626 at a banquet hosted by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Hudson, seven years old "the smallest human being that anyone had ever seen, perfectly proportioned and dressed in a suit of miniature armor climbed out of a gilded pastry pie stood shyly on the table in front of the Queen and bowed low." Between that first bow and Hudson's death, in London in late 1681, probably "alone and in poverty, unremarked and unremembered," stretched a journey that included intrigue, banishment, civil war, enslavement by Barbary pirates, and, in 1678, imprisonment for "being known to be a Roman Catholick." Page calls Hudson's life "one of the most remarkable stories of the seventeenth century." Certainly this account offers vivid and remarkable insights into the man and the times in which he lived. Recommended for most libraries. Robert C. Jones, Central Missouri State Univ., Warrensburg Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. *Starred Review* Page has done an impressive amount of research to recount the remarkable life of one of Stuart England's most fascinating, if less-well-known, characters. Standing only 18 inches tall, Jeffrey Hudson--later dubbed Lord Minimus--caught the eye and captured the heart of Queen Henrietta Maria, after he was presented to her baked in a pie at a royal banquet hosted by the duke of Buckingham in honor of King Charles I. Jeffrey's remarkable odyssey began at the age of seven, when he joined the royal entourage in the role of the queen's pet dwarf. Serving the queen loyally for almost 18 years, he played an integral part in the elaborately orchestrated culture of the court. Given his unique position within the royal inner circle, he also witnessed countless examples of the social and political intrigue that characterized the Stuart era. Kidnapped by pirates twice, forced into exile with the queen during the civil war, the victor in an improbable duel, Jeffrey was eventually banished by the queen and spent his final years as a slave in North Africa. Brimming with action and adventure, this offbeat biography reads like fiction. Margaret Flanagan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "...a spirited panorama of the Caroline court seen through the eyes of a small but not insignificant player." -- New York Times Book Review Nick Page is a professional writer, broadcaster, and creative consultant. He is the author of The Tabloid Bible, The Tabloid Shakespeare, and Blue . He lives in England.