In Bed with the Georgians: Sex, Scandal and Satire in the 18th Century
by Mike Rendell
This was quite an interesting little book. I didn't realize how much I already knew about the topic until reading this, but it was still fun to read. Rendell goes in depth with stories of the greatest courtesans of the day, the biggest scandals, and the exploits of the rich. His writing style is never dry and stays engaging, although sometimes remembering people mentioned in previous chapters was problematic given their short introductions.
There were several mentions of how the Victoria era was a direct reaction of the excess of the Georgian one, which is a topic I would love to explore more. I had never really stopped to think about how weird it is that courtesans were viewed with such awe, since this is very similar to our own time period. The Victorian's certainly didn't view "fallen women" with such indulgence and envy, nor did they have as much patience with the follies of their royalty as they did with Prinny.
I don't know that I learned a whole lot from this book, but that's not saying anything against the content. Rendell did a fabulous job of putting together this reference point of people, places, and scandals from this time period, as well as all of the wonderful images to accompany the stories. Someone who didn't know as much about the subject would enjoy it even more.
Copy courtesy of Pen & Sword History, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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