Courtesans (Text Only)

This edition does not include illustrations.

‘Irresistible…history at its most human. Elegant and addictively readable.’ William Dalrymple

During the course of the 18th- and 19th-century a small group of women rose from impoverished obscurity to positions of great power, independence and wealth. In doing so they took control of their lives – and those of other people – and made the world do their will.

Men ruined themselves in desperate attempts to gain and retain a courtesan's favours, bu...