The Hell Fire Clubs: Sex, Satanism and Secret Societies - Couverture rigide

Lord, Evelyn

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0300116675 ISBN 13 : 9780300116670

Editeur : Yale University Press, 2008

Synopsis

The Hell-Fire Clubs scandalized eighteenth-century English society. Rumours of their orgies, recruitment of prostitutes, extensive libraries of erotica, extreme rituals, and initiation ceremonies circulated widely at the time, only to become more sensational as generations passed. This thoroughly researched book sets aside the exaggerated gossip about the secret Hell-Fire Clubs and brings to light the first accurate portrait of their membership (including John Wilkes, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Prince of Wales), beliefs, activities, and the reasons for their proliferation, first in the British Isles and later in America, possibly under the auspices of Benjamin Franklin.Hell-Fire Clubs operated under a variety of titles, but all attracted similar members - mainly upper-class men with abundant leisure and the desire to shock society. The book explores the social and economic context in which the clubs emerged and flourished; their various phases, which first involved violence as an assertion of masculinity, then religious blasphemy, and later sexual indulgence; and the counter movement that eventually suppressed them. Uncovering the facts behind the Hell-Fire legends, this book also opens a window on the rich contradictions of the Enlightenment period.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Before her retirement, Evelyn Lord was course director of the masters in local and regional history, University of Cambridge. She has published widely on local history and is the author of The Knights Templar in Britain and The Stuart Secret Army.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Yale University Press
• Date d'édition: 2008
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0300116675
• ISBN 13: 9780300116670
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 336
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible