It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but most of all, as Daniel Pool reveals in this delightful new book, it was a time of surprisingly outrageous behavior. Dickens' Fur Coat and Charlotte's Unanswered Letters plunks the reader down in the middle of the London book world to expose the madcap shenanigans, rows, rivalries and general mayhem perpetrated by the supposedly prudish Victorians. We see Dickens on his first American book tour having bits of his fur coat snipped off by manic fans; romantic rumors swirling around Thackeray and Charlotte Bront%, Anthony Trollope scheming with Thomas Hardy in an attempt to get more money for his novels; and Bulwer-Lytton (of "It was a dark and stormy night" fame) apparently plotting to poison his wife!

An eye-opening cultural history and a marvelously entertaining read, this is sure to be a gift book all fans of Victoriana will delight in.