The Hell-Fire Friars have become one of Britain's most infamous gentleman's clubs, shrouded in intrigue and tales of orgies and devil worship. This book attempts to separate fact from the accumulated fictions and myths associated with the group.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting insight on a much-maligned group,
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This review is from: The Hell-Fire Friars (Hardcover)
Satanism. Black masses. Depraved orgies. These are all terms people unfortunately tend to associate with the Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wycombe, aka the "Hell-Fire Club," the English club that originated with Sir Francis Dashwood and contained such luminaries as John Wilkes, the Earl of Sandwich and perhaps even the noted American revolutionary Benjamin Franklin.
While most popular histories of the group tend towards prurience and exploitation of the supposed "Satanic" elements, Suster attempts to separate fact and fiction, showing that while certain groups before St. Francis of Wycombe's were, to varying degrees, "Satanic," Dashwood's was not. Instead, Suster introduces us to a Dashwood that is consumed by Rabelaisian thought mixed with a healthy love for classical literature and the great old Gods of the Greeks and Romans. Rather than "Satanists," Suster portrays Dashwood and his group as "happy disciples of Bacchus and Venus," a crew interested in liberty, freedom and hedonism with more than a touch of paganism in the Eleusian mysteries tradition. If you're interested in learning of a different sort of "Hell-Fire Club," one that is probably far closer to the truth than the lurid tales of Satanism that have grown up around it, check out Suster's book.
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