{"product_id":"the-kitcat-club-friends-who-imagined-a-nation","title":"The Kit-Cat Club: Friends Who Imagined a Nation","description":"\u003cp\u003eOphelia Fields Kit-Cat Club is a story of a changing time in 17th-century Britain  during the reigns of Queen Anne and George I  when a group of men and their enterprising initiatives paved the way for new literary and political viewpoints  born out of the most unexpected circumstances. The Kit-Cat Club was founded in the late 1690s when Jacob Tonson  a bookseller of lowly birth  forged a partnership with the pie-maker Christopher (Kit) Cat. What began as an eccentric publishing rights deal  Tonson paying to feed hungry young writers and so receiving first option on their works  developed into a unique gathering of intellects and interests  then into the unofficial centre of Whig power during the reigns of William \u0026amp; Mary  Anne and George I. With consummate skill  Ophelia Field  author of the acclaimed biography of the first Duchess of Marlborough  The Favourite  portrays this formative period in British history through the clubs intimate lens. She describes the vicious Tory-Whig paper wars  the mechanics of aristocratic patronage  the London theatre world and its battles over sexual morality  Englands union with Scotland  Dublin society governed by a Kit-Cat and the hurly-burly of Westminster politics. Field expertly unravels the deceit  rivalry  friendships and fortunes lost and found through the club  along with wonderful descriptions of how its alcohol-fuelled  all-male meetings were conducted. Tracing the Kit-Cat Clubs far-reaching influence for the first time  this group biography illuminates a time when Britain was searching for its own identity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986724286517,"sku":"ByrdShop_0007178921","price":76.14,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780007178926.jpg?v=1770915196","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-kitcat-club-friends-who-imagined-a-nation","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}