{"product_id":"9780007287307_the-kit-cat-club-friends-who-imagined-a-nation","title":"The Kit-Cat Club: Friends Who Imagined a Nation","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe fascinating history of the male-only members of the Kit-Cat Club, the unofficial centre of Whig power in 17th century Britain, and home to the greatest political and artistic thinkers of a generation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Kit-Cat Club was founded in the late 1690s when London bookseller Jacob Tonson forged a partnership with pie-maker Christopher (Kit) Cat. What began as an eccentric publishing rights deal – Tonson paying to feed talented young writers and receiving first option on their works – developed into a unique gathering of intellects and interests, then into an unofficial centre of Whig power during the reigns of William \u0026amp;amp; Mary, Anne and George I.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith consummate skill, Ophelia Field portrays this formative period in British history through the club's intimate lens. She describes the vicious Tory-Whig 'paper wars' and the mechanics of aristocratic patronage, the London theatre world and its battles over sexual morality, England's Union with Scotland and the hurly-burly of Westminster politics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmong the club's most prominent members were William Congreve, one of Britain's greatest playwrights; Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, authors of the Tatler and Spectator, who raised English prose to new heights; and John Vanbrugh, a versatile genius whose architecture remains some of the most ambitious in Britain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eField expertly unravels the rivalry, friendships and fortunes lost and found through the club, interspersed with vivid descriptions of its alcohol-fuelled, all-male meetings. Tracing the Kit-Cat Club's far-reaching influence for the first time, this group biography illuminates a period when the British were searching for, and just beginning to find, a new national identity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ophelia Field","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47284800192661,"sku":"9780007287307","price":9.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780007287307.png?v=1776992309","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780007287307_the-kit-cat-club-friends-who-imagined-a-nation","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}