Attitudes to Sex and Sexuality in Britain since the Renaissance
A history of sexual repression which traces the ways in which illicit sexuality has been defined, curtailed and punished over the last five centuries in Britain, focusing particularly on how British society has treated and mistreated homosexuals and the sexually diseased.
The chapter headings in this wonderful collection of prose and poetry says it Adultery, Alfresco Sex, Cruelty, Dancing, Dressing, Drink, Drugs, Flirting, Food, Gambling, Gossip, Heavenly Vices, Hedonism, Lust, Motoring, Orgies, Prostitution, Reading, Schadenfreude, Scuzzy People, Seduction, Shopping, Short Views on Mean Vices, Snobbery, Solitary Vice, Theatricals, Tobacco, Le Vice Anglais, Vice and Virtue, Voyeurism. A truly wonderful collection of on the pros and cons of vice.
The author views the Titanic as a paradigm of Edwardian society. At the bottom of the ship was the steerage class, filled with emigrants hoping for a better life in the New World. Above them were the second class citizens buoyed-up by their prosperous respectability. And on the upper decks were the rich.
From the bestselling and award-winning author of ‘An English Affair’, a dazzlingly original thematic biography which throws fresh light on the greatest economist of the twentieth century. John Maynard Keynes is the man who saved Britain from financial crisis not once but twice – over the course of two World Wars. He remains a highly influential figure, nearly 70 years after his death. But who was he? In this entertaining biography, Richard Davenport-Hines gives us the man behind the economics: the connoisseur, intellectual, public official and statesman who was equally at ease socialising with the Bloomsbury Group as he was persuading prime ministers and presidents. By exploring the desires and experiences that made Keynes think as he did, Davenport-Hines reveals the aesthetic basis of Keynesian economics, and explores why the ideas of this Great Briton continue to resonate so powerfully today.
Like his mother Queen Victoria, Edward VII defined an era. Both reflected the personalties of their central figures: hers grand, imperial and pretty stiff; his no less grand, but much more relaxed and enjoyable. This book conveys Edward's distinct personality and significant influences.
A masterful biography of one of the greatest English poets and most compelling literary figures of the 20th century, Auden is the first to take the full measure of the poet's achievements, his insatiable thirst for experience, his navigation between the needs of discipline and the lure of his addictions and lusts. of photos.
An account of drug use, this work presents an often-ignored insight into the history of need and addiction. The international trade in illicit drugs generates around $400 billion annually, comparable to the oil industry. Award-winning historian Richard Davenport-Hines examines the evolution of licit medicines into a vast illicit business. By blending social, political, and cultural history, the narrative illustrates that intoxication is neither unnatural nor deviant; for thousands of years, humans have altered their physical or emotional states with substances. Davenport-Hines argues that drug use is integral to human experience, noting that many currently controlled drugs were once freely available. While 17th-century European explorers experimented with narcotics, modern drug history began in the 19th century, as Victorian physicians utilized morphine and other powerful medications, often leading to unintended dependencies. The 20th century saw opiates, cocaine, and marijuana increasingly associated with marginalized groups. The U.S. anti-drug lobby's push for total prohibition shifted global attitudes and policies, leading to a counterproductive War on Drugs. This narrative reveals that drug use, while potentially dangerous, is sustained by an economic system rooted in prohibition. Through the stories of diverse users across five centuries, the book challenges conventional views on a controversial global issue.
