Lord Vanity Author:Samuel Shellabarger Samuel Shellabarger's novels are historically accurate and were hugely popular with readers interested in historical fiction when written in the 1940s and 50s. This book is about the seige of Quebec in 1759. It begins with a young actor living on the fringes of Venetian society in the early 18th century. He is the illegitimate son of an English... more » nobleman. A fight with a young venetian nobleman sends him to the galleys for life. A chance encounter with his famous father results in acknowledgment by his father, which frees him and changes his life. A career in the British Army takes him to Quebec, and a later, into the diplomatic service.« less