James Boswell observed that a person living in eighteenth-century London, 'may be in some degree be whatever character they choose'. London was, quite simply, the most vibrant and powerful city in the world. This vivacity -- famously depicted by the satirical artists Gillray, Cruikshank, and Rowlandson -- gave rise to lewd and iconoclastic behaviour unlike any other in English history.
Gatrell's remarkable book argues that we cannot comprehend our own capacity for licentiousness or our sense of humour without understanding this unique period in English history. 'City of Laughter' is as original as it is brilliantly written and will change permanently our view of London and its inhabitants.
