John Wilkes: the lives of a libertine

John Wilkes remains one of the most colourful and intriguing characters of eighteenth-century Britain.

Born in 1725, the son of a prosperous London distiller, he was given the classical education of a gentleman, before entering politics as a Whig.

Finding his party in opposition following the accession of George III in 1760 he took up his pen with sensational effect, and made a career out of excoriating the new administration and promoting the Whig interest.

His charismatic style and vicious wit soon ensured that he became a figurehead for the radical cause, earning him many admirers and many enemies.

Amongst the latter were the king, and the artist William Hogarth who famously depicted Wilkes as a grinning, squint-eyed, pug-nosed agent of misrule. - - Whilst Wilkes's political career has been much explored, particularly the period between 1763 and 1774, much less has been written about his remarkable private life.

This biography provides a more comprehensive examination of Wilkes throughout his long life than has hitherto been available.

Taking a thematic, rather than chronological approach it is divided into six main chapters covering family, ambition, sex, religion, class and money, which allows a much more rounded picture of Wilkes to emerge.

In so doing it provides a fascinating insight, not only into one of the most intriguing characters of the Georgian period, but also into wider eighteenth-century British society and its shifting attitudes to morality, politics and gender.