This grandiose artistic and journalistic work is dedicated to the stories of women who combined the delights of an ancient profession with the problems of public policy and finance. Many of them managed to ruin not only rich nobles, but also entire states. Following in the footsteps of his father (Paul de Kock, who was engrossed in Turgenev’s girls), Henri de Kock published, in addition to a dozen frivolous novels that moralizers considered semi-pornographic (among them the famous “La Minette”), also equally frivolous journalism, like a series of essays "The History of Famous Courtesans" and "The History of Famous Cuckolds." The essays are written with the brilliance inherent in the family profession; this is not boring documentary reading, but to a large extent genuine fiction. At the center of each essay is the biography of a specific historical figure, her advantages and disadvantages, her life in the most remarkable events and fate. This grandiose work contains 4 thick volumes in one e-book. Over 100 pages with numerous illustrations.