A Room of His Own: A Literary-Cultural Study of Victorian Clubland (Series in Victorian Studies)

In nineteenth-century London, a clubbable man was a fortunate man, indeed. The Reform, the Athenaeum, the Travellers, the Carlton, the United Service are just a few of the gentlemen's clubs that formed the exclusive preserve known as "clubland" in Victorian London - the City of Clubs that arose during the Golden Age of Clubs. Why were these associations for men only such a powerful emergent institution in nineteenth-century London? Distinctly British, how did these single-sex clubs help fashion men, foster a culture of manliness, and assist in the project of nation building? What can elite male affiliative culture tell us about nineteenth-century Britishness? A Room of his Own sheds light on the mysterious ways of male associational culture as it examines such topics as fraternity, nostalgia, social capital, celebrity, and male professionalism. London's clubland - this all-important room of his own - comes to life as Barbara Black explores its literary representations and the important social and cultural work that this urban sites enacts. -- from back cover.