When London Was Capital of America

For the inhabitants of the British Empire on the eve of the American Revolution, London stood as the epitome of refinement, amusement, and taste. Many aspiring Scots, English provincials, and colonists from North America and the West Indies gravitated to the metropolis seeking both social and political advancement, while others wallowed in Hogarthian vice in a city typified by coffeehouses, elite fashions, and the trappings of international commerce. Here, independent scholar Flavell (Britain and America Go to War) re-creates with stunning lucidity the bustling world of Georgian London, a world where planter, slave, and Yankee mixed with metropolitans of all ranks. Combining a sinuous narrative style with scholarly depth, Flavell closely follows the experiences of the South Carolinian Henry Laurens, the unfortunate Long Islander Stephen Sayre, and the illustrious Ben Franklin as well as a host of other characters as, with mixed results, they sought distinction in the capital.