Publisher's Synopsis
"Lively and curious reading, particularly in its cascade of anecdote, offered in a breezy, cozy, journalistic style." -Lauro Martines, Times Literary Supplement
"[Bell's] fascinating book is a window on a lost world far nearer to our own than we might imagine. . . . How pleasant to read his delightful, informative and often hilarious book." -Kate Saunders, The Independent
"An extraordinary work which blends the learned with the frankly bizarre." -The Economist
"Professor Bell has a sly sense of humor and an enviably strong stomach. . . . He wants to know how people actually behaved, not how the Church or philosophers or earnest humanists thought they should behave. I loved this book." -Christopher Stace, Daily Telegraph