We tend to think of the 18th century Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova as an “irresistible rake”, said Laura Freeman in The Times. But according to Leo Damrosch, professor of literature at Harvard, the “charming seducer” wasn’t “that charming at all”. Casanova, he argues in this insightful biography, was a serial “abuser” whose behaviour was disturbing even by the standards of his day. Although “appalled” by his subject’s behaviour, Damrosch admits to finding him captivating, said Gregory Dowling in The Wall Street Journal. Casanova travelled all over Europe, and “met everyone”, from serving maids, prostitutes and nuns to “great writers and ruling monarchs”.

Source: The Times June 10, 2022 09:44 UTC