In Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of an Irish Whore, Julie Peakman brings to glorious, bawdy life one of the 18th century's most notorious prostitutes and the world she inhabited. For almost half a century, polite and impolite society in Dublin revolved around Peg Plunkett, her liaisons and the brothels she ran. Escaping a violent domestic background and facing a life of poverty, Peg blitzed her way through balls and masquerades, creating scandal and gossip wherever she went, leaving dukes, barristers and lieutenants smitten and stranded in her wake. As her looks faded and her long and tempestuous career came to an end, she wound up in debtor's prison. In order to extricate herself from debt, Peg hit on the idea of recording her experiences, thereby exposing the shoddy behaviour of men who had failed her, creating a furore in the process. Peg became the first madam to write her memoirs, and left behind an extraordinary portrait of the glamorous society - and seedy underbelly - of Georgian Dublin and Regency London, documenting the politics and personalities of her illustrious clients as well as their sexual predilections. Book jacket.