Casanova is remembered chiefly as a seducer and international con-man, yet he was a man of many parts apart from purely sexual ones. He inhabited the raffish, semi-underground, often violent section of 18th-century life which sometimes surfaces in Mozart's operas, a world where men such as he lived on their wits, their charm and their lack of scruple. Rakery was an essential part of that world, and Casanova was not only an accomplished rake himself but the accomplice of many others in their disreputable adventures. The child of obscure Venetian actors, he became an international figure and was received at most of the European courts - until some unsavoury exploit usually compelled him to move on. His memoirs were written in old age and apparently are more reliable factually than most of us had tended to believe. This Penguin Classic Biography series is proving a good one, as well as being very reasonably priced.