A REISSUE OF PART ONE OF STABLEFORD'S SEMINAL STUDY OF THE DECADENTS, FEATURING THEIR LITERATURE OF CALCULATED PERVERSITY. The Decadence Movement which flourished in the 1890s produced some of Europe's most striking and exotic works of literature The Decadents, convinced that civilization was in a state of terminal decline, refused to rebel as the Romantics had, but set forth instead to cultivate the pleasures of calculated perversity and to seek the artificial paradise of drug-induced hallucination. "The Dedalus Book of Decadence looks south to sample the essence of fine French decadent writing. It succeeds in delivering a range of writers either searching vigorously for the thrill of a healthy crime or lamenting their impuissance from a sickly stupor." - Andrew St George in The Independent AUTHOR: Brian Stableford is one of Britain's leading writers of science fiction and fantasy. He is the editor of The Dedalus Book of Decadence, The Dedalus Book of British Fantasy and Tales of the Wandering Jew. He has translated for Dedalus, under the pseudonym of Francis Amery, Monsieur de Phocas by Jean Lorrain and The Angels of Perversity by Remy de Gourmont.