CourtesansIrresistiblehistory at its most human. Elegant and addictively readable. William Dalrymple During the course of the 18th and 19th century a small group of women rose from impoverished obscurity to positions of great power, independence and wealth. In doing so they took control of their lives and those of other people and made the world do their will. Men ruined themselves in desperate attempts to gain and retain a courtesan's favours, but she was