Winner - Theatre Book of the Year 2013

Books of the Year - Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, The Telegraph, TLS

‘Kelly catches the rancid flavour of the eighteenth century wit rococo relish. Ian Kelly’s scoundrel hero, wit who made Dr Johnson laugh, is, as accuracy remands, flamboyantly resuscitated’
FREDERIC RAPHAEL, TLS

‘a stunningly good biography’
 ★★★★★ THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘Ian Kelly’s splendid biography:  a thrilling piece of literary archaeology’ 
★★★★★ THE SCOTSMAN

‘dazzling’
★★★★★ EXPRESS

‘gripping, fascinating and meticulously researched’
THE OBSERVER

An 18th century courtroom drama and exploration of the origins of the British sense of humour, centred on a biography of the greatest lost figure of Georgian London: one-legged comedy superstar Samuel Foote, who wrote a series of hit comedies for one-legged actors (rarely performed since for obvious reasons) single-handedly kept political comedy alive in London and Dublin in the glory years of Georgian print satire, was arraigned for buggery in 1776, to the wonder of the London (and American) press, and has some claim to be both the 18th century’s Oscar Wilde and the founding father of the much vaunted ‘British sense of humour.’

‘compelling reading, better described as three mini melodramas, beginning with murder on HMS Ruby in the Bristol Channel, ending in the ‘perfect media storm’ of Foote’s trial, and taking in the small matter of an amputated leg...little short of a miracle’
TLS

‘written with panache and wit - as lively and entertaining a historical biography as you are ever likely to read’ 
THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘Kelly, writer of acclaimed biographies of Beau Brummell and Casanova, is a master at recreating atmosphere and making the reader feel he is living alongside the book’s subject…as much social history as biography, it portrays all 18th-century London from the perspective of Samuel Foote’
THE EXPRESS

‘Only those who have first ensured that their jaw is a safe distance from any hard surface should read Ian Kelly’s uproarious – but true - account of Foote’s career’
THE GUARDIAN

‘Kelly’s perceptive wit, and interest in his densely theatrical material –he is a successful actor himself -  makes him an ideal biographer for this pint-size peacock . . . Foote’s imprint deserved uncovering and it is hard to think of anyone who could have written his life story with greater sympathy, understanding of his talent and the difficulties he faced’
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘Meticulously researched using newly discovered sources, Mr Foote’s Other Leg will captivate anyone with an interest in the early modern stage, and 18th Century London in general. Everyone else will be swept along by the high farce, both on stage and off [and] as for Foote’s leg amputation: it is written in such frank detail, you’ll want to hide behind the sofa. The book really shines thought as a portal into 18th Century London. We see an astonishingly modern world where sex, scandal and the cult of celebrity - Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Joshua Reynolds, the Fielding brothers and John Hunter all feature - are promulgated by an intrigue-hungry press. Foote’s own trial was such a sensation that it kept the American Declaration of Independence off the front page…it is a biography that beguiles and charms in a dozen ways.’
THE LONDONIST

‘Colourful, outrageous, controversial, [and] very funny, it is hard at times to believe what we are reading: Foote’s life really was stranger than fiction. Ian Kelly’s detailed and well-researched book [is] fascinating and very readable’
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

‘Ian Kelly, a successful actor and writer, has found a perfect subject in this larger-than-life theatrical phenomenon . . . [he] is a charming and knowledgeable guide’
LITERARY REVIEW

‘...[Kelly] raises this book above the extraordinary: Mr Foote’s Other Leg is a wonderful work of history and if you’re quick you’ll probably be able to treat yourself for Christmas.’
MIKE PATERSON LONDON HISTORIANS