Blazing Star

Restoration England witnessed an extraordinary flowering of literature, music, architecture and science. At the centre of the burgeoning cultural life of the age was John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. A peerlessly witty satirist, Rochester epitomised the manners of the court of Charles II. But he was also a libertine and drunkard, a writer of scandalously offensive poetry who got himself banned from court. Rochester died of syphilis at the age of just 33, leaving behind him a mystery as to the true nature of his character. This text presents a compelling portrait of a remarkable yet complex man and of a cultural golden age that often spilled over into depravity.