The Sinner's Grand Tour

The Sinner's Grand Tour
Author: Tony Perrottet
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2011-05-10
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0307592189

Sex and travel have always been intertwined, and never more so than on the classic Grand Tour of Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Today the Continent is still littered with salacious remnants of that golden age, where secret boudoirs, notorious dungeons, and forbidden artifacts lured travelers all the way from London to Capri. In The Sinner’s Grand Tour, celebrated historian and travel writer Tony Perrottet sets off to discover a string of legendary sites and relics that are still kept far from public view. In southern France, an ancient text leads him inside the château of the Marquis de Sade, now owned by fashion icon Pierre Cardin. In Paris, an 1883 prostitute guide helps him discover the Belle Époque fantasy brothel Le Chabanais and the lost “sex chair” of King Edward VII. Renaissance documents in the Vatican Secret Archives point the way to the Pope’s very own apartments in Vatican City, wherein lies the fabled Stufetta del Bibbiena, a pornography-covered bathroom painted by Raphael in 1516. With his unique blend of original research, sharp wit, and hilarious anecdotes, Perrottet brings us a romping travel adventure through the scandalous backrooms of historical Europe.

Grand Tour

Grand Tour
Author: Robert F. Randall
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2003
Genre:
ISBN: 0595302459

The Last of the Sinners

The Last of the Sinners
Author: Lynn Shurr
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press Inc
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2024-07-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1509255680

Rex Billodeaux has his life exactly where he wants it. He has returned to New Orleans to play quarterback for Sinners. Super Bowl prospects look good and so does Dre Ames, a young woman he has known since the age of seventeen but overlooked because she has a son she gave birth to as a teen. He is about to propose when the death of the team owner throws the Sinners into turmoil. The trophy wife, who inherits the team, hates football and the city society who snubbed her. She plans to sell the team out of state and will only reconsider if Rex agrees to do her every biding and break up with Dre. He takes one for the team and signs her agreement. Will he be able to save the Sinners and return to Dre? That is the question.

The Evolution of the Grand Tour

The Evolution of the Grand Tour
Author: Edward Chaney
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 454
Release: 2000
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780714644745

Unlike other studies of the Grand Tour, this book deals not so much with the fully-fledged 18th-century phenomenon, but rather with the 16th and 17th centuries and the way in which the English became conscious of the Italian Renaissance and thereby discovered classical antiquity itself. Revised essays document the lives and travels of the personalities who contributed to establishing a convention which eventually came to dominate European culture. An epilogue pays tribute to Sir Harold Acton (1904-1994). Distributed by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Cuba Libre!

Cuba Libre!
Author: Tony Perrottet
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2019-01-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 0735218188

The surprising story of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and the scrappy band of rebel men and women who followed them. Most people are familiar with the basics of the Cuban Revolution of 1956–1959: it was led by two of the twentieth century’s most charismatic figures, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara; it successfully overthrew the island nation’s US–backed dictator; and it quickly went awry under Fidel’s rule. But less is remembered about the amateur nature of the movement or the lives of its players. In this wildly entertaining and meticulously researched account, historian and journalist Tony Perrottet unravels the human drama behind history’s most improbable revolution: a scruffy handful of self-taught revolutionaries—many of them kids just out of college, literature majors, and art students, and including a number of extraordinary women—who defeated 40,000 professional soldiers to overthrow the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Cuba Libre!’s deep dive into the revolution reveals fascinating details: How did Fidel’s highly organized lover Celia Sánchez whip the male guerrillas into shape? Who were the two dozen American volunteers who joined the Cuban rebels? How do you make land mines from condensed milk cans—or, for that matter, cook chorizo à la guerrilla (sausage guerrilla-style)? Cuba Libre! is an absorbing look back at a liberation movement that captured the world's imagination with its spectacular drama, foolhardy bravery, tragedy, and, sometimes, high comedy—and that set the stage for Cold War tensions that pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Pagan Holiday

Pagan Holiday
Author: Tony Perrottet
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2009-05-06
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0307558908

The ancient Romans were responsible for many remarkable achievements—Roman numerals, straight roads—but one of their lesser-known contributions was the creation of the tourist industry. The first people in history to enjoy safe and easy travel, Romans embarked on the original Grand Tour, journeying from the lost city of Troy to the Acropolis, from the Colossus at Rhodes to Egypt, for the obligatory Nile cruise to the very edge of the empire. And, as Tony Perrottet discovers, the popularity of this route has only increased with time. Intrigued by the possibility of re-creating the tour, Perrottet, accompanied by his pregnant girlfriend, sets off to discover life as an ancient Roman. The result is this lively blend of fascinating historical anecdotes and hilarious personal encounters, interspersed with irreverent and often eerily prescient quotes from the ancients—a vivid portrait of the Roman Empire in all its complexity and wonder.

Double Time

Double Time
Author: Olivia Cunning
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2012-11-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1402271530

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller! "Rock Hard hooks you with heat and reels you in with heart."—Cheryl Brooks, bestselling author of Virgin (The Cat Star Chronicles) He Craves Her Music and Passion On the rebound from the tumult of his bisexual lifestyle, notoriously sexy rock guitarist Trey Mills falls for sizzling new female guitar sensation Reagan Elliot and is swept into the hot, heady romance he never dreamed possible. She Can't Get Enough of His Body Ecstatic to be on tour learning the ropes with Trey's band, The Sinners, Reagan finds she craves Trey as much as she craves being in the spotlight. They Both Need More... When Reagan's ex, Ethan Connor, enters the scene, Trey's secret desires come back to haunt him, and pleasure and passion are taken to a whole new level of dangerous desire. Praise for Rock Hard: "Scorching love scenes...readers will love the characters."—RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars "The sex is incredible and the love is even better. Each rocker has a piece of my heart."—Night Owl Reviews, 5 Stars, Reviewer Top Pick

The Grand Tour of William Beckford

The Grand Tour of William Beckford
Author: William Beckford
Publisher:
Total Pages: 182
Release: 1986
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

As a child, Mozart reputedly taught him five-finger exercises on the piano, Alexander Cozens, self-styled bastard of Peter the Great, taught him to draw. The remainder of his education was completed under the baleful eye of a personal tutor, and in his father's well stocked library.

The Naked Olympics

The Naked Olympics
Author: Tony Perrottet
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2004-06-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 081296991X

What was it like to attend the ancient Olympic Games? With the summer Olympics’ return to Athens, Tony Perrottet delves into the ancient world and lets the Greek Games begin again. The acclaimed author of Pagan Holiday brings attitude, erudition, and humor to the fascinating story of the original Olympic festival, tracking the event day by day to re-create the experience in all its compelling spectacle. Using firsthand reports and little-known sources—including an actual Handbook for a Sports Coach used by the Greeks—The Naked Olympics creates a vivid picture of an extravaganza performed before as many as forty thousand people, featuring contests as timeless as the javelin throw and as exotic as the chariot race. Peeling away the layers of myth, Perrottet lays bare the ancient sporting experience—including the round-the-clock bacchanal inside the tents of the Olympic Village, the all-male nude workouts under the statue of Eros, and history’s first corruption scandals involving athletes. Featuring sometimes scandalous cameos by sports enthusiasts Plato, Socrates, and Herodotus, The Naked Olympics offers essential insight into today’s Games and an unforgettable guide to the world’s first and most influential athletic festival. "Just in time for the modern Olympic games to return to Greece this summer for the first time in more than a century, Tony Perrottet offers up a diverting primer on the Olympics of the ancient kind….Well researched; his sources are as solid as sources come. It's also well writen….Perhaps no book of the season will show us so briefly and entertainingly just how complete is our inheritance from the Greeks, vulgarity and all." --The Washington Post

The Origins of the Grand Tour

The Origins of the Grand Tour
Author: Michael G. Brennan
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN:

Focusing upon three previously unpublished accounts of youthful English travellers in Western Europe, Dr Brennan reassesses the early origins of the cultural phenomenon known as the 'Grand Tour' and shows how the basis of the long-term English fascination with the 'Grand Tour' was firmly rooted in the mid-Tudor and early-Stuart periods. The outbreak of the English Civil War during the late-1640s acted as a powerful stimulus to this kind of travel for male members of both royalist and parliamentarian families, as a means of distancing them from the social upheavals back home as well as broadening their intellectual horizons. This study of the experiences of three young Englishmen also considers the various forms in which their travel records have survived, including personal diaries, family letters and formal prose records, and how these texts should now be interpreted not in isolation but alongside the diverse collections of prints, engravings, curiosities, coins and antiquities assembled by such travellers.