This is the book that inspired ITV'S hit drama HARLOTS.

If you ever wondered what Jane Austen's Mr Darcy and his fellows got up to on their numerous trips to London, here is the book they would certainly have carried around ...

HARRIS'S LIST OF COVENT GARDEN LADIES was a bestseller in the Eighteenth Century, shifting 250,000 copoies in an age before mass consumerism. A 'guide book' published annually at Christmas, it detailed the names, attributes and 'specialities' of the capital's prostitutes. During its heyday (1759 -95) HARRIS'S LIST was the essential accessory for any serious gentleman of pleasure.

Hallie Rubenhold has collected the funniest, rudest and most bizarre entries penned by Jack Harris, Pimp-General-of-all-England, into this fascinating and mischievous collection.

Hallie Rubenhold is a historian and broadcaster and an authority on womens' lives in the 18th century. She has worked as a curator for the National Portrait Gallery and as a university lecturer. Her first novel,Mistress of My Fatewas received with great acclaim and her biography,Lady Worsley's Whim,was made into the hit BBC dramaThe Scandalous Lady W. She lives in London with her husband. Chat with her on Twitter @HallieRubenhold

A sexy digest of the 18th-century Gentleman's directory of Covent Garden ladies of the night, introduced by social historian, Hallie Rubenhold>