The Hellfire Clubs / Evelyn Lord.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lord, Evelyn, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Secret societies--History--18th century--Great Britain.

Secret societies.

Great Britain--Social life and customs--18th century.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (250 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2010]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Hell-Fire Clubs scandalized eighteenth-century English society. Rumors 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 countermovement 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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Illustrations

The Hell-Fire Clubs Time Line

Introduction

1. Prelude to the Fires of Hell

2. Gentlemen's Clubs, Journalistic Hacks, the Mohocks and Change

3. The Hell-Fire Clubs

4. Interlude Abroad: The Grand Tour, Dilettanti and Divans

5. The Medmenham Friars

6. Essay on Woman: The Friars Exposed

7. Public Men and Private Vices

8. Scotland and the Fires of Hell

9. Beefsteaks, Demoniacs, Dalkey and Colonial America

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780300177107

0300177100

OCLC:

1024003968