Casanova: Actor, Spy, Lover, Priest - Tapa dura

'enthralling new biography... It is hard to conceive of a juicier, more informative account of social and sexual mores of 18th century Europe.' -- Daily Mail 20080613 'In Kelly's hands, the story makes for a thrilling read' -- The Sunday Times 20080613 'Ian Kelly has produced a great blast of a book, packed with energy and information, marinated in sympathy and understanding, and rippling with enthusiasm right down to the final footnote.' -- Sunday Telegraph 20080613 'sober, thoughtful and affectionate new biography' -- Financial Times 20080613 'sparkling... Kelly has a fine way with libertines and dandies.' -- Independent 20080613 "The thing is to dazzle,' wrote Casanova. In this enthralling book he dazzles once again, and so, too, does his biographer.' -- Mail on Sunday 20080613 'Marvellous' -- Books Quarterly 20080623

Giacomo Casanova: one of the most beguiling and controversial individuals of his or any age. Braggart or perfect lover? Conman or genius? He made and lost fortunes, founded two state lotteries, wrote various plays, philosophical and mathematical treatises, opera libretti, poetry, and forty-two books. His 3,600 pages of memoirs recorded hundreds of meals as well, of course, as his affairs and sexual encounters with dozens of women and a handful of men and have bought him two centuries of notoriety. Now, in CASANOVA, Ian Kelly reveals previously unpublished documents by Giacomo himself, as well as his friends and lovers, which give new insights into his life and his world. From his devotion to the Kaballah to his collaboration with Mozart on his opera Don Giovanni, from his vast appetite for food and sex to his training for priesthood, this is the fascinating story of an icon of his age and ours.