Author:Hallie Rubenhold
***By the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FIVE***
'A fascinating expose of the seamy side of eighteenth century life' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'Rubenhold's pages practically reek with smelly, pox-ridden Georgian Soho' GUARDIAN
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In1757, a down-and-out Irish poet, the head waiter at the Shakespear's Head Tavern in Covent Garden, and a celebrated London courtesan became bound together by the publication of a little book: Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies. This salacious work - detailing the names and 'specialities' of the capital's sex-workers- became one of the eighteenth century's most scandalous bestsellers.
Yet beyond its titillating passages lies a glimpse into the lives of those who lived and died by its profits - a tragicomic opera of the Georgian era, motivated by poverty, passionate love, aspiration and shame.
In this modern and visceral narrative, historian Hallie Rubenhold reveals the story behind Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies, and the legion of ordinary women whose lives in the sex trade history has chosen to ignore.
'Scrupulously researched' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Crackles with drama and tension' GUARDIAN
'Compelling and ingenious' INDEPENDENT
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
'This book is an absolute 'must'-read for any person interested in English social history' 5 ****
'Fascinating' 5 ****
'Brilliant. Full of intelligent insight which brings this period to vibrant life' 5 ****
Excellent . . . [Mallinson] has carried off a seemingly impossible task and rather than dismissing this as yet another title on the conflict it should be considered the primer for anyone new to the era. Thoroughly enjoyable, hugely informative and very easy to read, this comes highly recommended.
—— SOLDIER magazine 'Best of 2018'Notable for its clarity, and anyone requiring a digestible narrative summary of the fighting . . . would be advised to start here.
—— SPECTATORA wonderful series
—— PROFESSOR JOHN ROHL, on Allan Mallinson's Great War trilogyThere is no finer military historian
—— SIMON HEFFERI could not believe that [there was] anything new to say . . . but how wrong I was!
—— PROFESSOR SIR MICHAEL HOWARDPraise for the first two volumes
—— :As close as biography can come to being a work of art
—— Craig Brown , Mail on SundayOne of the great biographical achievements of our times
—— Dominic Sandbrook , Sunday TimesLucid and entertaining ... Rady is as good on the Habsburgs' artistic and cultural legacy as he is on the politics.
—— David Crane , The SpectatorThis panoramic account manages to make more sense of the European dynasty than its rulers often did.
—— John Gallagher , The GuardianThe Habsburgs is gripping, colorful, and dramatic but also concise, scholarly, and magisterial ... Revealing a key player in world history for almost a thousand years, The Habsburgs is a chronicle of high politics and family intimacy involving religion, murder, incest, madness, suicide, assassination. History on an epic scale!
—— Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of THE ROMANOVS and JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHYIt's staggering how much of the continent we recognise today is the result of the machinations of one family, much of it inbred and with really weird chins, and Rady manages to condense the story into one pacy and highly readable account of generations of chancers, liars, political masterminds, battlefield heroes and ruthless schemers who shaped Europe for centuries.
—— Charlie Connelly , New EuropeanThe Habsburgs were once Europe's foremost royal family. Rady tells their story with verve and authority, casting a curious eye over their eccentricities and peccadilloes while all the time revealing their extraordinary influence and global vision. A fascinating read!
—— Alexander Watson, author of THE FORTRESS and RING OF STEELA tour de force. Thorough, accessible, and resolutely erudite, this is the volume that this vitally important subject so desperately needed. Martyn Rady should be congratulated.
—— Roger Moorhouse, author of POLAND 1939: THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR IIMartyn Rady has written a splendid account of the grandest old dynasty of Europe: the Habsburgs. With wit and firm opinion, he takes the reader on something akin to a tour of the Wunderkammer of the dynasty's many-centuries-long career. Including vampires, an empress's waist size, and cocaine-laced health drinks, Rady's narrative glitters with apt quotes and telling, often ironic details.
—— Steven Beller, author of THE HABSBURG MONARCHY 1815-1918This profile of the Habsburgs is concerned as much with the personal as it is the political. It is a tale of survival, from modest origins to control of an empire and, finally, twentieth-century catastrophe.
—— History RevealedThis is a first global history of Europe's most famous and durable dynasty, chronicling its exploits with great panache over nearly a millennium of rule across wide swathes of the continent and beyond. His text is accessible and entertaining, his ready wit providing a delectable counterpoint to the notorious humourlessness of so many of the dynasts he examines.
—— Robert Evans, Regius Professor of History Emeritus at the University of OxfordAn engaging combination of fast-flowing narrative and insightful analysis.
—— Tony Barber , Financial TimesIts pleasures are slow, cumulative and utterly absorbing, it would be the perfect choice for a holiday with long stretches of reading time… A wonderful meditation on the half-truths and half-lights that make up our understanding of a life
—— Lucy Lethbridge , Tablet, *Summer reads of 2019*An absolute masterpiece. A book bursting with love – love lost and love found, love misunderstood, unsaid and denied. I was spellbound by Laura Cumming’s warm, intelligent, searching voice and her intense scrutiny of images to reveal the unexpected and make us think again. I am in complete awe. A beguilingly lovely book – as big as the sea
—— Keggie Carew, author of DadlandAn absolutely utterly transfixing narrative which I could hardly bear to leave in order to go to sleep at night and which I could not wait to wake up to in the morning, writing of such sublime beauty that I delighted in page after page, and above all a story of such emotional power, not only about Laura’s mother, but also about Laura herself, that sometimes I found myself putting my copy down just to take a moment to breathe
—— Juliet Nicolson, author of A House Full of DaughtersAn intricately structured and perfectly written swirl of memoir, history and art: the prose equivalent of beautifully marbled paper. I adored it
—— Adèle GerasA true masterpiece: an unveiling of family secrets written in prose of the utmost beauty, and an astonishing act of filial love. Read it!
—— Jonathan CoeExquisitely written, compelling and painful
—— Amanda Craig[An] intriguing and beautiful book… Cumming summons a novelist’s skill, making it impossible to stop reading the unravelling story. Every chapter ends with a new discovery, or the potential for one, and right up to the very last page the serpentine revelations twist like an anaconda
—— Sue Gaisford , TabletHaunting, luminous and revelatory… one of the best memoirs in recent years
—— Sarah Hughes , i, *Best books of 2019*[A] compelling, beautifully written book… Chapter by chapter, Cumming slowly pieces together an authentic portrait of her ancestors, a paean dedicated lovingly to her mother
—— Jackie Annesley , Daily MailExtraordinary… It is a scrupulously, luminously empathic book, and the work of a masterful storyteller
—— Stephanie Cross , The LadyA remarkable new book, which blends mystery, memoir, art criticism and Lincolnshire history… The story may be unique but the themes are universal
—— Yusef Sayed , Lincolnshire LifeA profound and beautiful book… Cumming illuminate the darkness of secrets, shame and betrayal and their effects in a riveting book
—— Kirsty McLuckie , Scotland on Sunday[An] excellent mystery memoir
—— attitudeThe story, beautifully written, is enriched by Cumming’s skill at making pictures speak
—— Mark Mazower , Financial TimesOn Chapel Sands is as compelling as any detective novel of the golden age. The rigour and pace of the writing, its themes of mistaken identity, confinement and sexual deceit are reminiscent of Josephine Tey
—— Nancy Campbell , Times Literary SupplementLaura Cumming writes very beautifully and I take real pleasure in the prose
—— Jacqueline Wilson , Time & LeisureOn Chapel Sands is beautifully written, immersive and moving – and it’s one of the finest books of the year
—— Will Gore , SpectatorA haunting investigation into family trauma and secrets from a forgotten England that turns out to lie closer to the surface than anyone suspected. Turning detective, she [Laura Cumming] interrogates old snapshots with the forensic skill of a professional art critic
—— Mark Mazower , New Statesman, *Books of the Year*On Chapel Sands starts by seeming to be about one kind of mystery but soon starts being about another, much more profound one… the subtlety and suspense of the narrative lies in the way Cumming allows details about their relationship to emerge slowly, like a photograph socking in developing fluid
—— Bee Wilson , London Review of BooksWith her critic’s eye, Cumming turns detective to investigate who took her mother and tell a pacy story about relationships, pride and the ramifications of what goes unsaid
—— Susannah Butter , Evening Standard, *Books of the Year*In a year strong in ingenious memoir, Laura Cumming’s On Chapel Sands…stood out, not just for its great storytelling but for Cumming’s wonderful ability to bring to life a Lincolnshire coastal community…its moods, characters and toxic secret-harbouring machinery
—— Claire Harman , Evening Standard, *Books of the Year*This beautifully written memoir of family mystery proved one of the surprise hits of 2019
—— James Marriot , The Times, *Books of the Year*[A] twisting literary mystery that also serves as a deeply moving love letter
—— Claire Allfree , Metro, *Books of the Year*A complex story of family secrets, beautifully written, and illustrated
—— Craig Brown , Mail on Sunday, *Books of the Year*A beautiful, multi-layered story full of lost love, human motivation and tender secrets
—— SheerLuxe[A] bewitching blend of history and mystery
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily MirrorA scrupulous work of storytelling, radiant with empathy and filial affection
—— Hephzibah Anderson , Observer