Behind Closed Doors: The Secret Life of London Private Members' Clubs

by Seth Alexander Thevoz

With a keen eye for the juicy anecdote, Thévoz tells the fascinating and entertaining story of the rise, decline and resurgence of London's private members' clubs, from the late-eighteenth century to the present day. In doing so he looks at cultural and political developments beyond the clubs, revealing how while the clubs may have been products of their city and country, they also exerted significant influence on London, Britain and places far beyond.

This is a chronicle, as informative as it is entertaining, of the ups and downs of London clubland, and how it had an impact on parts of the world far from London. It is packed with amusing anecdotes and illustrative examples of the growth of this quirky, unique institution, which grew to spread around the world. London, though, with its four hundred clubs, was always at its heart.

Thévoz reveals how everything we might have thought we knew about these clubs is wrong. They may have started out as white, male, aristocratic watering holes - but that's only part of the story. All sections of society built their own clubs and lived their lives highbrow and lowbrow; women and men; working-class, middle-class and upper-class; international and British. The club has been central to a distinctively British form of leisure over more than three centuries.

Behind Closed Doors is a distillation of a decade of research and notes on London clubs, based on exclusive behind-the-scenes access to archives and proceedings, as well as a love of gossip and scandal.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Audible Audio

Published May 25, 2023

Reviews

[Michael G · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring, I stopped reading about halfway through. I should have stopped earlier. The author is trying hard to make his subject matter interesting, but it just isn’t. It’s also woke - spare us the nonsense chapters on different characteristics.

Boring 🤝 woke

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

V good - a few v slight niggles over rather niche areas of mine: and I was a bit surprised, given the general admirably broad reach, that boho clubs of the 20s like the Gargoyle and Elsa Lanchester's rather peripatetic Cave of Harmony didn't feature. But otherwise does a great job of demythologising.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can honestly say I didn't expect to like this as much as I am. I'm not actually remotely interested in London clubs, and am not a history buff, like many who might pick up this book. But the author has managed to write a highly entertaining book that not only offers insights into the role clubs have played in British history and politics but also offers frequent humorous anecdotes that have me chuckling out loud. For example, the anecdote about a "notorious (possibly apocryphal) tale of the men-only club which notionally only permitted women to visit if they were the wives of members. Rumour spread that the flurry of attractive young women accompanying elderly members to dinner were -- horror of horrors -- not all married to their hosts, and a sign sprang up: MEMBERS ARE ASKED NOT TO BRING THEIR MISTRESSES TO DINE AT THE CLUB, UNLESS THEY ARE THE WIVES OF OTHER MEMBERS."

If you ARE into history, or just curious about the often-secretive clubs of London (possibly because you watched too much Frasier as a kid), do grab a copy!

[East West Notes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behind Closed Doors is an excellent book that covers more than the title suggests. It outlines the history of private members' clubs in the UK and around the world, with a focus on what role these spaces serve in society and in the personal lives of members. Mainly divided by theme, it has large sections dedicated to the challenges faced by non-White or Christian members, as well as women and other minority groups. Finances are another reoccurring theme.

Readers be warned that it includes a surprising number of con men, rapes, paedophilia, and attempted murders. The events and the cover ups are chilling, but the majority of the book is a light read. That said, readers unfamiliar with British politicians or celebrities might feel less engaged with the text. The book does include photos, but I do wish it had dozens more. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in British history or the sociology of shared spaces.

[Karen R-C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consumed this as an audiobook and it was lovely to hear Seth narrate his own book.
Full of both fact and anecdote, it is a delightful romp through Clubland.

I recommend coming to this book with an open mind about members’ clubs and you will likely find the book hugely enjoyable.

[Stewart Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Thevoz writes with a twinkle in his eye and takes evident delight in puncturing misconceptions. He has the knowledge of an insider but the scepticism of an outsider. The chapters are well organised, being mainly chronological but also addressing clear themes and drawing comparisons across time. Both expertly researched and highly readable, you're unlikely to find a better guide to the history and present of Clubland.

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has a light touch and writes amusingly about the places, people & scandals in clubland up until the present day. There is a great deal of surprising historical detail which challenges some of the tropes about private members clubs in London. For example, the history of women in clubland. The stories about literary types, like Oscar Wilde & PG Wodehouse, I knew but the author has contextualised their situations impressively well. Highly recommended!

[Hugh Sheehy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic historical piece on the development of west London, told through the lens of private members' clubs.

[Sally Hetherington OAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know about you, but my vision of private members’ clubs is one of rich white men who used their membership to climb the ladder.

This book does support that opinion, HOWEVER, it gives a much deeper insight into the history of these clubs and their patrons. And no, it’s not just rich white men who are members.

I learnt some interesting tidbits, such as:

🍸 Nine out of ten traditional London clubs have gone bankrupt. Whereas there were once 400 of these establishments, there are now around forty.

🍸 The term ‘lobbyist’ originated from onlookers who sits in on the lobby of clubs, watching those coming and going, and knowing everything. Indeed, the term 'lobbyist' originated from this keen practice of Victorian journalists.

🍸 The first women's club was "The Female Coterie', otherwise known as Ladies' Boodle's, in the 1770s.

🍸 In 1868 the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, was supposedly incensed by the refusal of White's to allow him to smoke that he set up his own club that would permit th fashionable pastime, the Marlborough Club. Although this was wide-told, it was a fabrication.

🍸 During the Great War, the Royal Automobile Club formed a sub-committee to look into foreign-born members, and in May 1915 it formally banned all ‘enemy aliens' as members or guests.'

This was an entertaining and well-researched book, with intriguing photos. I highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in private clubs, London history and aristocrats. Or if you are an Anglophile like me!

A big thank you to Hachette Australia for my gifted copy.

[Erik Versavel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this is an interesting topic, but the book becomes very repetitive, because of its organisation according to topics, and then it is impossible and frankly not very interesting to try and remember or memorise the names of clubs and people. Not a terrible book but not sufficiently attractive to warrant reading to the end :)

[Tony McNally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful read about Club Life and clubbable people. Well researched. Well presented. And historically entertaining. I most certainly recommend it to devotees of British Empire establishments and beyond. And of the quirky eccentrics that inhabited them.

[Katryna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slow read but actually really interesting. I learned a lot about London during the wars and it dispelled a lot of curiosity about the clubs of London. I still put Annabels on the top of my London Everest but now I’m curious about some of the others.

[Jennifer Bridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eminently readable and impeccably researched. Authoritative.

[Radella Hardwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly entertaining and even a little tempting

[Globe Trotter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very readable book written in easy language and the pages turn fast. So if you are worried how you will get through a book of 300 pages on such a dry and boring topic then fear not.

The topic of the book is about the clubs in London. Whilst the author tried very hard to paint a picture of more exclusivity, diversity and modernisation ultimately at the heart of the it all the stereotypical images that you may have before reading this book still runs true. That is the clubs are set up by white British males who are mainly from privileged rich backgrounds having gone to private schools and grew up in family of money and and business and who themselves end up with money as a result of their heritage and connections. The clubs are a place for them to meet and gather and live in an environment where they they still can convince themselves as superiors surrounded in the bygone Victorian and Georgian opulence that was once the great British empire. Whilst society has moved on towards greater equality and diversity, the clubs provide a hide out for whose who are deeply racist, aristocratic and behind the doors networking providing opportunities for personal political and monetary gains. It is no surprise that current MPs and prime ministers are still members of these clubs. Deals are done within these walls away from the media. The rich and powerful still try to lobby and control the country within their own small circles whilst letting the poor and misinformed public ( confused herds ) continue to be manipulated by the media and out letting their energies on football. The rich and powerful network and lobby tirelessly in the background. The clubs are cogs in this wheel.

It is also interesting to learn more about the British mentality. "Whenever three Englishmen are gathered together, two of them will form a club, for the purpose of keeping the third out". "The British have always loved to replicate the class system in every bureaucracy they create". The British exports to the rest of the world how to do things "proper". The private schools, Harry Potter, Oxbridge ... and later in life Law, Banking, properties in South Kensington/Nottinghill etc etc. This is how the rich perpetuates their wealth and power. And plenty of people around the world wants to emulates this, or to be part of this and aspire to this.

Perhaps what's most useful is to put some names to the clubs and then put the clubs to the buildings that you sometimes walk past in central London. There are a few chapters at the end of the book that are unnecessary yet included to be politically correct of today's era. For example a chapter for homosexuality. There is another chapter on a club being asset stripped by a con artist that dominated one whole chapter. I felt this represented the author who wanted to write down the fruit of his hard hard/research and preventing them from going to waste than to actually contributing to the main narrative of the book.

Overall after having read the book I also felt the author being rather out of touch with the public, he himself being a club member and an insider himself. Nevertheless it is an interesting book to read for an open mind.

[Imaduddin Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seth is a meticulous researcher and the book is interspersed with anecdotes that will tickle. If you're an NLCer, you'll learn a good deal about your club. Good stuff there also about race, sex, gender and homosexuality.

[Hiccopolit · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like lunch with an unavoidable acquaintance — thin and dull and exhausting. I should have avoided it!

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not always the easiest timeline to follow, Thevoz successfully separates fact from fiction in the life of London’s private member clubs.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive global history of the private members’ club. The Club Started in Pall Mall (naturally) and was exported all over the world by the British (to varying degrees, unsurprisingly mostly in the commonwealth). Interesting history behind the Travellers, Garrick, Carlton, etc. Pretty much all have been very close to bankruptcy at one point, many closed down, stubborn old membership can be a real problem!

Lot of the clubs initially existed to facilitate gambling in London through a legal loophole. White’s (one of the first and most famous clubs to this day) was founded by an Italian immigrants named Bianco (hence the name White’s!), it was originally a coffee / tea / hot chocolate house - one of the first in London (a luxury back then). David Cameron resigned from White’s after public pressure when they refused to admit women - but later rejoined after he resigned as PM. Finally, 5HS and the Birley family got a mention!

[Lezley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by Airmail
A well written, well-researched book examining the history of mainly British Clubs through an examination of political, social and historical lenses. A must-read for anyone who loves London and British history.