Casanova's Women

The world's greatest seducer - and the array of remarkable women he pursued - as you have never seen them before

'His final scenes make an arresting image ... entertaining ... Judith Summers has worked hard to explore who these women really were' TLS

'Summers relays all the most succulent scandals from the life of the famous womaniser' Telegraph

Eighteenth-century Venetian adventurer Giacomo Casanova, history's most famous seducer, talked his way into the beds of more than 200 women. Charming, brilliant and devastatingly attractive, the compulsive womaniser claimed to like and understand his conquests. But he could also be ruthless, cruel, selfish and dishonest.

Who were these women who established Casanova's extraordinary reputation? From the two sisters with whom he had his first sexual experience to the libidinous Venetian nun who defied God in order to sleep with him, from the wealthy widow he tricked out of a fortune to the love of his life, the glamorous and daring Henriette, they all have their story to tell.

Auteur

Judith Summers is the author of four novels and two non-fiction books, The Empress of Pleasure and the prize-winning Soho, A History of London's Most Colourful Neighbourhood. Born and brought up in London, she studied Fine Art in Bristol and Manchester, and trained as a film editor with the BBC. After becoming a tourist guide, she discovered a passion for historical research. She has written widely on London, and lives in north London.