Listen to a sample
Behind Closed Doors
- Author
- Seth Alexander Thévoz
- Narrator
- Seth Alexander Thévoz
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Publish Date
- 25 May 2023
- Run Time
- 9 hours 51 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
- Genre
- History
- Rating
- 5.0 (2 reviews)
What to expect
This is a chronicle, as informative as it is entertaining, of the ups and downs of London clubland, and how it had an impact on parts of the world far from London. It is packed with amusing anecdotes and illustrative examples of the growth of this quirky, unique institution, which grew to spread around the world. London, though, with its four hundred clubs, was always at its heart.
Thévoz reveals how everything we might have thought we knew about these clubs is wrong. They may have started out as white, male, aristocratic watering holes - but that's only part of the story. All sections of society built their own clubs and lived their lives there: highbrow and lowbrow; women and men; working-class, middle-class and upper-class; international and British. The club has been central to a distinctively British form of leisure over more than three centuries.
Behind Closed Doors is a distillation of a decade of research and writing on London clubs, based on exclusive behind-the-scenes access to archives and proceedings, as well as a love of gossip and scandal.
Critics Review
-
An entertaining glimpse into an anachronistic world
Guardian
-
[A] secretive world of arcane rules, unbelievable anecdotes and disreputable behaviour
The Times
-
A lively and comprehensive study of London clubs ... an entertainingly readable and well-researched glimpse into a world
Observer
-
Thévoz...offers much more than tales of delicious eccentricity, pink gins or popping monocles. He's a serious researcher, and offers a lively, exhaustively comprehensive, soup-to-cigars history of this cosy but often corrupt institution
Sunday Times
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
This well-researched romp through the history of the capital's private members' clubs overturns many myths along the way...Compendious and entertaining, Behind Closed Doors is the result of thorough research, lightly worn. Thévoz writes with energy, conviction and amusement at the ever-changing variety of human congregation and its foibles
Financial Times
-
Exuberant, rollicking...Behind Closed Doors is full of amusing anecdotes and waspish character sketches...Thévoz, who is the librarian of the National Liberal Club, clearly knows at first hand what has been going on behind the "closed doors" of his title
Times Literary Supplement
-
Hugely entertaining and full of stuff I didn't know I wanted to know, but I now do know, and I'm delighted by it
Jonathan Lynn, co-author of YES, MINISTER and YES, PRIME MINISTER
-
Thévoz...is clearly a brilliant researcher. He is very good on the history of clubs and the buildings that house them. As for what went on behind those closed doors, there are riveting snippets between great chunks of earnest fact
Daily Telegraph
-
A fair-minded overview of three hundred years of club history, neatly researched and quite fact-heavy, but overwhelmingly preoccupied with carnal and financial appetites
London Review of Books
-
An excellent book.
Alexander Larman
-
I enjoyed it greatly! It is a remarkable collection of history, anecdote and reference and I'm baffled at how you had any time to eat or sleep whilst researching all the material!
Michael Meadowcroft, former Liberal Democrats MP
-
A great read - rich in evidence and robust in analysis. And full of stories told with dry wit
Dr Matt Cole, University of Birmingham
-
Seth Alexander Thévoz is a wonderful, impressively well-informed tour guide, leading you past the heavily guarded Porter's Lodge into the vaulted halls of clubland...meticulous...genuinely hilarious
Buzz magazine
-
Equal parts entertaining and intriguing
Hatchards bookshop, Piccadilly
-
Admirably broad reach...does a great job of demythologising
Lesley A. Hall
-
A splendid new tome
The Chap
-
Utterly fascinating
HistoryHit
-
It's a very interesting book indeed
Times Radio
-
Highly knowledgeable
The Week
-
Superb
Byline Times
-
Most enjoyable...gave me just exactly the background to the London clubs which I needed
Victorian Turkish Baths (2015)
-
This brilliant book...It is EXTREMELY timely, well told and glorious fun. 10/10
Dr Fern Riddell
-
Very good
Dr Tim Stanley
-
Superb...finished it in two evenings...Impressively wide-ranging and deeply analytical
London’s Pall Mall Clubs (2019).
-
Very much enjoying this splendid volume
Ben Schott
-
Keen to debunk myths...Startling...Thévoz gleefully punctures the notion that clubs were a male bastion
Air Mail
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
-
5.0 5.0
Insightful AND interesting.
tomm27 2024-03-21
Details
- Author
- Seth Alexander Thévoz
- Narrator
- Seth Alexander Thévoz
- Duration
- 9 hours 51 minutes
- Release Date
- 25 May 2023
- ISBN
- 9781405559355
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Book Group
- Genre
- History
- Rating
- 5.0(2 reviews)
- Narration
- 5.0(2 reviews)
Synopsis
With a keen eye for the juicy anecdote, Thévoz tells the fascinating and entertaining story of the rise, decline and resurgence of London's private members' clubs, from the late-eighteenth century to the present day. In doing so he looks at cultural and political developments beyond the clubs, revealing how while the clubs may have been products of their city and country, they also exerted significant influence on London, Britain and places far beyond. This is a chronicle, as informative as it is entertaining, of the ups and downs of London clubland, and how it had an impact on parts of the world far from London. It is packed with amusing anecdotes and illustrative examples of the growth of this quirky, unique institution, which grew to spread around the world. London, though, with its four hundred clubs, was always at its heart. Thévoz reveals how everything we might have thought we knew about these clubs is wrong. They may have started out as white, male, aristocratic watering holes - but that's only part of the story. All sections of society built their own clubs and lived their lives there: highbrow and lowbrow; women and men; working-class, middle-class and upper-class; international and British. The club has been central to a distinctively British form of leisure over more than three centuries.Behind Closed Doors is a distillation of a decade of research and writing on London clubs, based on exclusive behind-the-scenes access to archives and proceedings, as well as a love of gossip and scandal.
About xigxag and the x-book®
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
Our x-book® format is the only fully integrated listen-and-read experience available. See the text on screen as you listen, look up words, take notes, search within the book, and share quotes. It is especially useful for accessibility, language learning, and getting more from non-fiction. Look for the purple x-book® ribbon on the cover, or filter your search by "x-book" to find them.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.