Peter Howell

The Libertine -- In every generation, there comes along a person so scandalous, so rebellious, so willing to break taboos that they topple the world's ideas of what being a free spirit truly means. In the 17th century that person was unequivocally John Wilmot, AKA the 2nd Earl of Rochester - the wily and talented rogue who in the course of his short, wild life, become known all at once as a troublemaker, a genius and one of history's most irrepressible believers in liberty.

In every generation, there comes along a person so scandalous, so rebellious, so willing to break taboos that they topple the world's ideas of what being a free spirit truly means. In the 17th century that person was unequivocally John Wilmot, AKA the 2nd Earl of Rochester – the wily and talented rogue who in the course of his short, wild life, become known all at once as a troublemaker, a genius and one of history's most irrepressible believers in liberty.

The story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.

The story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.