He was 'THE WICKEDEST MAN ALIVE'. He went to Oxford University at the age of 12. He slept with his first prostitute at 13. He was an alcoholic by 14. He was imprisoned in the Tower at 18. He was acclaimed a war hero at 19. He died of syphilis at the age of 33. He was English history's first celebrity. He was John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester: Poet, dandy and libertine. BLAZING STAR is a compelling portrait of a remarkable and complex man, and of a cultural golden age that often spilled over into depravity.