This idiosyncratic book takes the reader on a fascinating journey, from
high-end grooming and care, including open razors, strops and Belgian
waterstone; silver-tipped badger shaving brushes, shaving soaps and D R
Harris's Pick-me-up, loofahs and sponges, through colognes and scents,
including history, constituents, triggers and individual colognes, then
into dressing accessories, such as slippers, watches, cufflinks and
shirt studs, and tie pins, even how to assess precious stones as well as
a fascinating account, from primary sources, of the evolution of the
dinner jacket-Tuxedo. Moreover, if you want to know not just how to mix
drinks but something of their history, as well as the history of beer,
cider and mead; sweets of all kinds, chocolate, tea and coffee; matching
food and drink (and not just food and wine) and then every essential
fact about tobacco, pipes, Havana cigars, cigarettes and snuff, it's all
here, as well as where to buy the products that are mentioned.
But it does not stop there. The journey continues on to a consideration
of some of London's fascinating venues, including pubs, clubs,
restaurants, hotels and bars; some nice points of conduct and the
author's reflections on such things as feminine wiles (what women really
look for) and even how to stop a fight. There is a chapter on selecting
and buying gifts for the lady in your life, a dictionary of
Anglo-American sartorial terms and it ends, as it begins, with thoughts
of England as home. The author has submitted the book in draft to the
scrutiny of leading world experts on the various topics and so, as well
as being entertaining, it is backed by authority.
