Gentlemen and Blackguards: Gambling Mania and the Plot to Steal the Derby of 1844 Paperback – 26 May 2011

Well satisfied.excellent book.great price..

A wonderful insight to the history of gambling and manipulation by the well to do and holders of power over the not so well off. Nothing has changed much.

If anything, this book is a touch drier than it needed to be by virtue of attention to minute details behind and under what took place around the 1844 Epsom Derby and the personalities. Having said that, it would be a cruel offence for which to be hung these days when attempts at historical accuracy are given third billing. It's still a good read and gives not only a good picture of the skulduggery afoot on 'the turf' then and the enormous, almost incomprehensible amounts of money involved, but a snapshot of some parts of London life at the time.

Whilst the centre focus of this story is a plot to win a fortune by 'fixing' the Derby of 1844, Foulkes' makes sure that the reader is well aware of the context in terms of society at that time. The early 19th Century was a time when gambling addiction amongst the upper classes was rife. The sums gambled were phenomenal by todays standards and gambling was not regulated like today.The cast of characters in the book is wide and varied - from the gentlemen to the blackguards. There is nothing more zealous than a convert and George Bentinck was determined to stamp out corruption in horse-racing. The plot in the 1844 Derby has been repeated often over the years - substituting horses - and on this occasion was not successful.A fascinating insight into changing society and how fortunes were won and lost.

Great book