The age of illusion: manners and morals 1750-1848

I. Society and religion in the mid-eighteenth century: The aristocracy in Britain and on the continent

Social divisions in the new world

Cultural unity in Europe

The extraordinary career of Elizabeth Chudleigh

Religion and John Wesley

II. Crime and punishment: Footpads

Primitive police

Highwaymen

Public executions and punishments in Britain

Practices of law in America

Torture in France

Prisons

III. Sports and pastimes: The cock-shy

Bull-baiting

Cock-fighting

Hunting and hawking

Horse-racing

Fishing

Boxing

Football

Golf

Cricket

Driving four-in-hand

IV. Coffee houses and clubs: The introduction of coffee houses

Dining clubs

Gambling

Duelling

The great London clubs

V. "Taking the waters" and other diversions: Bath

The discovery of sea-bathing

Bagnigge Wells

The pleasure gardens

Bartholomew Fair

Play-going

VI. Le Roi Bien-Aime: Philippe d'Orleans, Regent of France

Louis XV and his mistresses

Madame du Pompadour

Madame du Barry

VII. The pursuit of love: Notorious rakes

"Hell-Fire Club"

Sir Francis Dashwood

Brothels

Paris: Europe's chief "city of pleasure"

Casanova

The Marquis de Sade

VIII. Before the deluge: Marie-Antoinette and her reception in France

The extraordinary "Affair of the Diamond Necklace"

IX. The broken link: Colonization of the New World

Tensions between Britain and America

The outbreak of the War of Independence

La Fayette

X. The great upheaval: Conditions in France on the eve of the Revolution

Rousseau's influence

Mirabeau

Storming the Bastille

The sack of Saint-Lazare

The Terror begins

The fall of Robespierre

XI. After the deluge: French society after the Revolution

Napoleon and Josephine

Napoleon's mistresses

Mademoiselle George

Marie Walewska

Talleyrand

XII. The Regency: George, Prince of Wales, and his mistresses

The Prince's marriage to Mrs Fitzherbert

George Brummell

The memoirs of the notorious Harriet Wilson

XIII. The inner man: Food at court

Cookery books

The hierarchy of servants

Menus of the middle class

Food of the poor

Drinking habits

Meal times

Cooking in France

XIV. Romanticism and revolution: The Romantic Movement

Victor Hugo

The revolts of 1830

The potato famine in Ireland

Emigration to America

The gathering of revolutionary forces.