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Hogarth was made wealthy by his engravings for 'The Harlot's Progress', but remained highly critical of the growing gulf between the luxurious lives of the ruling elite and the wretched poverty of the masses. Swift described him as a 'pleasant rogue', and he numbered the likes of Pope and Horace Walpole among his friends.

Born and raised in Smithfield, between the hospital and the debtor's prison, William Hogarth witnessed greed and cruelty, crime and disease, the "scummy, solid and stinking" Holborn River, the lively spectacle of "waxworks, rope-dancing and music booths" and "obscene, lascivious and scandalous plays, comedies and farces" otherwise known as Bartholomew Fair. He walked past brewers' barrels, fish stalls, ungrateful beggars, and all orders of fops, harlots and chimney sweeps--and, luckily for us, captured his vibrant 18th-century surroundings with a satirical, exacting and often tender eye. Uglow's detailed attentions to the historical facts of the day enliven and educate this fascinating portrait of the artist. We learn, for instance, that in Hogarth's revision of "The Distressed Poet", a caricature of Alexander Pope was replaced with a relatively innocuous engraving of a poem, thereby lessening his chances of making enemies with an influential figure. With splendidly detailed explanations and asides such as these, Uglow is never plodding, never dry. Particularly amusing is her explanation of the six-plate series titled "Marriage a la Mode", and her insightful unravelling of that by-gone custom known as arranged marriage. For those who prefer to learn their history with a smile, Uglow provides a splendidly entertaining and well-researched volume. --Martha Silano

Combining in-depth history with perceptive explication of the references encoded in William Hogarth's images, Jenny Uglow enables modern readers to fully understand the society that shaped the art of William Hogarth (1697-1764). Hugely popular engravings such as A Rake's Progress and Marriage A-La-Mode commented on the tumultuous changes sweeping through 18th-century English society; Hogarth was appreciated as a moralist as much as a painter. Uglow colorfully recreates a vanished world, as well as the prickly nature of a man who revolutionized the role and the status of British artists.