The Hell-Fire Clubs scandalized eighteenth-century English society. Rumours of their orgies, recruitment of prostitutes, extensive libraries of erotica, extreme rituals, & 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 & brings to light the first accurate portrait of their membership (including John Wilkes, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, & the Prince of Wales), beliefs, activities, & the reasons for their proliferation, first in the British Isles & later in America, possibly under the auspices of Benjamin Franklin. Hell-Fire Clubs operated under a variety of titles, but they all attracted a similar membership
- mainly upper-class men with abundant leisure & the desire to shock society. This book explores the social & economic context in which the clubs emerged & flourished; their various phases, which first involved violence as an assertion of masculinity, then religious blasphemy, & later sexual indulgence; &, the counter movement 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.