Insatiable Earl : Life of John Montagu

No historical figure of 18th-century England has been more grossly misrepresented than the inventor of our favourite fast food.

The stereotype is well known: an unscrupulous man of pleasure whose mistress, a courtesan, was murdered on the steps of the Admiralty, inside which her lover was carelessly mismanaging the War of American Independence.

In fact, Martha Ray was not a courtesan but rather the Joan Sutherland of her day who was murdered by one of her unhinged admirers.

Neither was the fourth Earl of Sandwich the philanderer he has long been made out to be.

Lord of the Admiralty at the age of 25, and First Lord at 30, he displayed diplomatic powers and won from foreign statesmen the admiration and trust of his own countrymen.

He was highly influential in the reform of the navy in the Seven Years War and a criticial player during the American Revolutions.