I enjoyed reading this biography. Using Casanova's Historie and new research the author has written a balanced look at his life. A lot of new research has uncovered a lot of new information about Casanova differentiates between fact and fiction in his autobiography. The book is well written with lots of illustrations. Enjoy

A well-written, highly informative work. I truly enjoyed this wonderful book about a truly interesting man. 5 Stars

Damrosch writes with a perfect balance between the romance and glamour of Giacomo Casaniva's life, all without romanticising or glossing over any of the less savoury aspects of his life. This is a very entertaining story.

I recomment this book to anyone interestes in Casanova's life and his endeavours.

Leo Damrosch provides the most interesting take I've read on one of history's most interesting men.

Damrosch executes a perfect balance between the glamour and romance of Giacomo Casanova's life without romanticising or glossing over any of the less savoury aspects of the intrepid adventurer and his life. Meticulously thorough, but still sharply entertaining, I absolutely recommend this biography to anyone interested in Casanova's life and endeavours.

Thank you to Netgalley and Yale University Press for an advanced copy of 'Adventurer: the Life and Times of Giacomo Casanova' in exchange for an honest review.

If you are in the life of Giacomo Casanova, you're in for a treat. This book captures all the details and dissects it for the readers to completely see the legend as he was. Complete insightful and intriguing, this is the book you must pick up.

My thanks to both NetGalley and Yale University Press for an advanced copy of this new biography and literary study.

There is a lot to respect about the man whose last name would become both an insult and an adjective that many men would be thrilled to hear about themselves. Giacomo Casanova was a man ahead of his time in many ways. A traveller who saw most of the major capitals, plus backroads and small discreet inns, in a time when many people never left the village they were born in. Assignations with women was what history knows him for most, but since most of these tales and how his attempts at wooing were received come from his autobiography, it is hard to tell what is real and what is not. Leo Damrosch in his book Adventurer: The Life and Times of Giacomo Casanova writes about the man who seems more fictional than a real person, with a lot of infamy attached to it.

Born of entertainers young Casanova was cured by witches for early health issues, priests were his educators, and servant women his introduction to the arts of seduction. Mathematics were his gift, as was gambling and making patrons, but his own mouth and lack of control in many ways kept him a vagabond constantly on the road, looking for the next opportunity either financial or boudoir, looking for acceptance, something he always searched for, but seldom received. Duels, prison, affairs, traveling, libraries, schemes and dreams were his world. A world that saw so much change politically and socially.

Casanova was a complicated man whose ethics and morals were much more flexible than a reader of today might be comfortable with. Not that readers should be. Consent was not a word he understood, nor did scamming older women in fake astrology charts seem to bother him, except for being caught. Professor Damrosch makes this quite clear numerous times in his book. Well- researched and well- written he calls out Casanova out a lot on his actions and antics, and his numerous affairs. In a lesser hand writing about Casanova could almost seem like a bro- brag book, but Professor Damrosch does not let this happen.

A very interesting book about an intriguing man that makes you want to shower as much from Casanova's numerous diseases, as from his attitude about amour. Fans like myself who are more familiar with Professor Damrosch's book The Club about Samuel Johnson, will enjoy this more ribald, man of letters. Recommended for readers of history who want to get a feel for what life was like in the time before the French Revolution, and readers who like biographies about complicated people, that are very well written and told.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley
Casanova has been holding on to the world's imagination for as long as his story has been around. This narrative on his life and conquest was absolutely riveting! I couldn't put it down the details were incredible I felt like I was there.