The Hellfire Clubs :Sex, Satanism and Secret Societies
The Hellfire Clubs :Sex, Satanism and Secret Societies
paperback
Published:
15 March, 2010
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Description
The first authoritative account of the Hell-Fire Clubs, who joined them, and which notorious legends about them are true
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.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780300164022 |
| ISBN10 | 0300164025 |
| Number Of Pages | 250 |
| Item Weight | 318 g |
| Publisher / Reseller | Yale University Press |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
A fine excursion into one of the more unlikely contributions to culture. . . . Lord runs through the influences, varieties, and members of various Hell-Fire Clubs and their increasingly louche predecessors. -Katherine A. Powers, Boston Sunday Globe -- Katherine A. Powers Boston Sunday Globe (01/11/2009)
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Author's Bio
Evelyn Lord has published widely on local history and is the author of The Knights Templar in Britain and The Stuart Secret Army. She lives in Cambridge, UK.