The Smart: The True Story of Margaret Caroline Rudd and the Unfortunate Perreau Brothers

Bakewell, Sarah

ISBN 10: 070117109X / ISBN 13: 9780701171094

Published by Chatto & Windus, 2001

About this Item

One owner from new. Very clean throughout.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1698137442190

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Smart: The True Story of Margaret Caroline Rudd and the Unfortunate Perreau Brothers
• Publisher: Chatto & Windus
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 070117109X
• ISBN 13: 9780701171094
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

Britain was on the verge of war with America, yet foreign affairs were far from the thoughts of Londoners, spellbound by the proceedings of two spectacular trials, one involving a strange pair of twins, and the other an elegant young woman. Caroline Rudd had left Ireland for London where she came to enjoy a glamorous life as a high-class prostitute. Her mesmerizing charisma attracted the identical but opposite Perreau twins – one a sober merchant, the other a raffish gambler. Caroline and the twins forged bonds and lived in luxury until everything collapsed like a house of cards and charges of forgery were laid. Meticulously researched, this evocative history brilliantly bridges the gap between aristocracy and underworld, as eighteenth-century society is drawn into the most scandalous financial ‘smart’ of the age.

About the Author

Sarah Bakewell is a Curator at the Wellcome Library, London, where she stumbled across this fascinating story. This is her first book.