The Love of Dangerous Men: A Secret History in Letters

An enormous bird’s nest is found in the attic. Hundreds of photographs and letters are tangled in its straw. The first letter begins: ‘Well dear friend, I note all you said about Mr Bowen and that vile woman.’ When Tony Nicholson and his family moved into an old house in the north of England, they discovered a treasure trove of old photographs and letters, all belonging to a mysterious woman called Annie Bowen. Who was she? And what was her story? Back Tony went to the Victorian era to find out. Soon, he found himself in Calcutta and the dark streets of Whitechapel, tracking her lover. Peeling back the layers of her story, he uncovered a lost world of moonlight dances, country vicarages and teenage ‘spooning’. In London, there were sensational spectacles, ‘professors of swimming and illusions’, glamorous dressmakers, nights at the music hall, reckless cab-drivers and drunken sailors. A rich array of vivid characters came and went - loafers and swells, impoverished aristocrats, Victorian Bluebeards, pretty barmaids and saucy actresses. And through it all, the tangled web of Annie’s life was gradually unpicked. There were illicit affairs, family secrets and scandals, fading photographs and deceitful letters. Moving from one astonishing place to another, and tracking down her descendants across the globe, Tony encountered her lovers and rivals, her friends and family, the places in her world and the secrets of her life. 'The Love of Dangerous Men' is a fascinating social history that tells the story of ordinary lives lived in extraordinary ways.

Tony Nicholson is a social and cultural historian. For many years, he was a university lecturer, specialising in Victorian history. He now lives in the north of England where he grew up.