Casanova's Life and Times

Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) was born the son of a moderately poor acting family at atime when the stage carried enormous social stigma. Yet in his own lifetime he achievedcelebrity across Europe, rubbing shoulders with numerous of the eighteenth century's greatestmen and women, from Frederick the Great to Catherine the Great, from Voltaire toAlbrechtvonHaller, from Pope Benedict XIV to Pope Clement XIII. It was a fame that hadlittle to do with his romantic exploits. This was to come later, following upon the posthumouspublication of his magnificent History of My Life. An adventurer and a man of learning, hiswas an extraordinary life whose story was intertwined with the story of eighteenth-centuryEurope. To try to understand this fascinating character we need also to try to understand theperiod in which he lived. This is the aim of Casanova's Life and Times.