Warp & Woof
Books in the fabric of everyday life

Like Sailors in Port

Bill Clinton is not the only grand politician ever accused of behaving like a sailor in port (apologies to sailors for the comparison to politicians). Clemens Metternich -- a towering force in the politics of early 19th-century Europe -- was certainly a stallion at stud in some earlier life. He had a penchant for bedding the wives of foreign diplomats and other important personages. His dalliances included affairs with the wives of two of Napoleon's most powerful commanders, romances with multiple "Russian ladies with soulful countenances" (he had an illegitimate child by Katarina Bagration, daughter of a great Russian general), and a tryst with the Duchess of Sagan (also chased by Tsar Alexander I). You can find it all in Paul Johnson's The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-1830 (HarperCollins, 1991). In fact, Johnson also tells of the insatiable libido of Lord Byron, best remembered as a poet, but who actually died while rushing to lead a revolution in Greece. He sometimes "fell in love" multiple times a day, it seems; he recorded 200 liaisons in a 2-1/2 year period in Italy.
      Of course, power and testosterone don't always beget seductive behavior. Napoleon, who always valued efficiency above useless sentiment, took great pride in being able to dispatch with sex in only a few short minutes -- letting him get right back to work. All the same, he "performed" under the delusion that he provided the greatest satisfaction to his partners. His story is told in the excellent Napoleon by Vincent Cronin (HarperCollins paperback, 1994).
      Why do powerful men seem so disposed to pack a punch with more than just their fists? And why do so many women apparently succumb to their aggressive displays? The scientific reason is given in The Evolution of Desire by David M. Buss (BasicBooks, 1994). It's a book that any human with a sex drive -- and a brain -- can enjoy reading.