Shire Library
1 primary work • 2 total works
Book 665
Royal nuptials are always a cause for excitement both at home and abroad, and never more so than when the couple in question are young, glamorous and bathed in the glow of genuine romance. But the meaning invested in royal weddings, and the manner in which they are conducted, have changed dramatically as ideals have shifted about the monarchy and about marriage itself. This book charts almost a thousand years of British royal weddings, from Henry I - whose bride was believed by many to be a runaway nun - through Henry VIII's six attempts at matrimony, to the highly public weddings of recent years including that of Prince William and Kate Middleton as well as the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It explores the traditions, symbols and rituals of the ceremonies themselves as well as the popular festivities and commemorative wares that have become a central means of marking the event.
A revealing, frank and sometimes lighthearted illustrated history of British brothels in the eighteenth century.
The business of sex was a significant aspect of urban culture in Georgian England, and a visible one. Despite the rise of the 'polite society' of Jane Austen's novels, England was also at the time rife with vice and debauchery: in the shadows of the fashionable public parks and gardens, in alleyways and taverns, even at church doors, there lurked a world of criminality and prostitution of which the bawdyhouse became one of the most potent symbols. This book explores what is was like to run, work in, and frequent these establishments, which ranged from filthy hovels and country inns to grand townhouse apartments, and draws from newspaper reports, criminal trials, political debate and bawdy pamphlets and prints to show both the frivolity and the harsh realities of the Georgian brothel.
The business of sex was a significant aspect of urban culture in Georgian England, and a visible one. Despite the rise of the 'polite society' of Jane Austen's novels, England was also at the time rife with vice and debauchery: in the shadows of the fashionable public parks and gardens, in alleyways and taverns, even at church doors, there lurked a world of criminality and prostitution of which the bawdyhouse became one of the most potent symbols. This book explores what is was like to run, work in, and frequent these establishments, which ranged from filthy hovels and country inns to grand townhouse apartments, and draws from newspaper reports, criminal trials, political debate and bawdy pamphlets and prints to show both the frivolity and the harsh realities of the Georgian brothel.