Gentlemen and Blackguards. Gambling Mania and the Plot to Steal the Derby of 1844. First Printing. Signed by the Author

Foulkes, Nicholas

ISBN 10: 0297844598 / ISBN 13: 9780297844594

Published by London. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2010

About this Item

London. Weidenfeld and Nicholson. 2010. First Edition/First Printing (1 included in full number line on copyright page). Hard Cover. Medium 8vo. 6.5 x 9.3 . ([16.5cm x 23.5cm] approx. 266 pp. Dark red boards with gilt titles to the spine. Illustrated with glossy colour and monochrome reproductions in the text. Unclipped dust jacket (£18.99) with cover artwork of 'The Start of the Memorable Derby of 1844' from an engraving by Charles Hunt. The book and jacket are both as new with no wear. Flat signed by the author without dedication and scarce in that respect. The Derby of 1844 was expected to be a two-horse race between Ugly Buck and Ratan, owned respectively by the intriguing characters, John Gully, a social-climbing former prize-fighter, and his great rival, William Crockford, the club owner. The race itself was full of drama, not least when it became apparent that Ratan and Ugly Buck had both been doped. Nick Foulkes brilliantly takes Frith's narrative canvas "Derby Day" as the inspiration for a gripping story. There are strong characters, the tension of class rivalries, the drama of the race and the trial, as well as the opportunity to use the gambling of the time as a lens through which to view the wider social change of the period. Almost exclusively aristocratic in tone, racing was, in the days before football, the chief national sporting obsession. However, the popularity of gambling and the turf was at odds with the increasingly regulated tempo of life in the 1840s. Vociferous moralists began to inveigh against the vice. The government was on a mission to clean up, if not eradicate, gambling in Britain and Britain's premier race, the Derby, was put on public trial. The dust jacket will be protected with a new inert archival quality sleeve which is removable. Please contact us if you would like any more information or additional images. Postage price quoted outside the UK is for a book up to 1kg using UPS. For books sent within the UK, there will be no extra charge for books up to 2kg which are sent by Royal Mail. Postage quoted in the UK is the actual cost (£3.45). All books are sent in protective packing and custom book box. If your book is intended as a gift, please let us know and we will gift wrap it free of charge with a card and any message.

Seller Inventory # 19MAY2023026

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Gentlemen and Blackguards. Gambling Mania and the Plot to Steal the Derby of 1844. First Printing. Signed by the Author
• Publisher: London. Weidenfeld and Nicholson
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0297844598
• ISBN 13: 9780297844594
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

In the early 1840s, Britain was the gambling capital of Europe and racing a national obsession, with the Epsom Derby assuming the status of an unofficial national holiday, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators and many millions of pounds in wagers. It was a time of frenzied speculation, high stakes and low morals, when every ruse, subterfuge and fraud was practised - and the biggest sin was getting caught. But as the cheerfully unprincipled Regency era began to give way to the earnest and conspicuous high-mindedness of the Victorian period, reformers decided it was time to root out the canker gnawing at Britain. In the summer of 1844, the murky world of illegal gambling hells, crooked hazard tables and the dubious practices of the Turf were made the subject of a far-reaching Parliamentary Enquiry. When the Derby of the same year ended in chaos, with the two favourite horses doped and the result challenged by the Prime Minister's brother, the Turf's most dedicated follower and greatest tyrant Lord George Bentinck, took it upon himself to uncover the truth of what happened that day: following a trail of a evidence that led to one of the most sensational court cases of the 19th century. This is a story of men, money, gambling and sporting obsession; of rogues and rascals, subterfuge and chicanery, with duelling, suicide and murder thrown in. It is a tale of outrageous criminality, aristocratic complacency, and a gripping investigation to expose the most audacious sporting plot of the age. A compelling detective story peopled with low-life aristocrats, high-minded reformers, GENTLEMEN AND BLACKGUARDS paints a rich and vivid panorama of the full spectrum of early Victorian society, bringing to light an overlooked turning point in British history.

About the Author

Formerly Associate Editor of the Evening Standard's ES magazine, Nicholas Foulkes writes regularly for the Financial Times, Country Life and the Mail on Sunday's 'Night and Day'.