Club learns about clubs from an expert

Our speaker this month was NSC member Seth Thévoz, giving a talk entitled Looking at Clubs in a Different Way. Seth has long been fascinated by traditional members' clubs and his last talk to us was in connection with his last book, Club Government, assessing the influences of London's clubs on the government of the country over the years. His latest book is a more general look at the origins, history and nature of clubs, filled with fruity anecdotes that have made it very popular with reviewers and it's been receiving much publicity. (I believe the original run sold out immediately and it is into its second impression already.) Seth's talk looked at the rise, fall and rise of clubland, some of the myths—such as the idea that clubs have always been overwhelming male and white—and the ways in which, while the private status could keep all kinds of activities discreet, some clubs have been touched by scandal, such as Oscar Wilde's club the Albemarle and, more recently, the Carlton Club, thanks to the antics of Christ Pincher. Many thanks to Seth for an engaging and erudite talk. You can see a video of it on our YouTube channel at youtu.be/cmcOBvRe2TI.

You can see more photos from the evening in the album on our Flickr account.