Part two - London: The Wicked City - online event - reading & social chat!

Hi Guys!

I hope that you are all safe and well. Just to let you know that I have set up a Zoom account so that we can at least have a virtual Meetup! Strange times I know...

I am inviting you to a reading followed with a group chat.

We'll read (myself narrating) London: The Wicked City

London has a long history as a vibrant sexual marketplace with a staggering array of sexual wares on offer. This book surveys a thousand years of commercial sex in London, from the Bishop of Bankside's licensed brothels on Bankside to the sleazy massage parlours and suburban brothels of today's city. The author takes us on a tour of the city's colourful past where all sexual desires were catered for. There were brothels with classical paintings and fine cuisine, accommodation houses where one could take one's choice of the pretty street girls, and the bagnios or bath houses in Covent Garden, which were praised by no less an authority than Casanova. For homosexuals there were mollies' houses. Expensively equipped flagellation establishments catered for the many passionate adherents of what was described as the `English vice'. There were many attempts to suppress the sex industry, particularly under the puritans, but it always emerged strengthened. It was flexible enough to respond to peaks in demand (such as the Restoration and two world wars) and reached an accommodation with gangsters, crooked magistrates and police. With vivid portraits of the enterprising bawds and whores who engaged in the oldest profession in the world, this is a fascinating look at the underside of life in the capital.

One chapter will be read at each online event - from what I can see each chapter has a stand alone topic, therefore it doesn't matter if you cannot attend all readings.

Chapter two: Bathing in Luxury and Lust

To attend in the first instance RSVP. You do not need a Zoom account. But to stop Zoom bombers (persons hijacking the event - doing weird things). I will send an invitation email with a link and password to you all around an hour before it starts.

There's unlimited numbers but there's a time limit of 40 mins. per session. However, if we want to talk longer we simply re-login.
We will establish a form of etiquette, for example when you first enter the 'meeting room' you will be muted, I will unmute you as we start. However, when you are not speaking it is recommended that you mute yourself - this is so that others do not get a lot of background noise.

Why not have a virtual drink together too - glass of wine or beer - Coffee 'n' Cake ;)

Stay safe :)