Three hundred years since they first appeared, the capital's traditional members-only gentlemen's clubs – still frequented by royalty and power brokers – have endured and evolved. As controversy continues around The Garrick permitting women members, a new book explores this peculiarly British phenomenon.

For more than three centuries, London has been the global centre of private members' clubs. In no other place have so many of these secretive sanctuaries come and gone, and today, with a total of 133 operating, the British capital still outstrips its closest rival, New York City, which hosts a mere 53 clubs.

Many of the historic men-only London clubs have moved with the times, and now allow female members. And arguably the most famous in traditional clubland, the Garrick Club, founded in 1831, made the news last year when it finally decided to drop its men-only rule. Since then, however, only a handful of women has been elected as members there, and, last month, broadcast journalist Julie Etchingham withdrew her candidacy. Reportedly, some prospective female candidates are uncomfortable with the protracted vetting process and seeming hostility of numerous members to women joining. The Savile Club, meanwhile, voted earlier this year to keep women out. Hidebound attitudes remain, it seems.

Now a new book, London Clubland: A Companion for the Curious, by Dr Seth Alexander Thévoz, provides a club-by-club overview, along with a deep dive into their particularities – customs, rules, traditions and even a few recipes. Clubs have often needed to evolve in order to survive, Thévoz reveals, and those that endure tend to serve a distinct membership.

The author believes that while clubs speak to something deeply-rooted in human character the world over, in the UK they have special resonance. He tells the BBC: "The British have always liked the certainty of club membership, and have been hugely into associational culture, from young people joining the Scouts and Girl Guides, to older people volunteering for an amateur dramatics society."

It all started with coffee. In the second half of the 17th Century, when coffee drinking was first introduced to England, coffee houses were a welcome alternative to taverns and became associated with good conversation. Samuel Pepys wrote in December 1660 of his evening at the "Coffee-house" in Cornhill: "I find much pleasure in it through the diversity of company – and discourse."

In 1693, an Italian migrant to London, Francesco Bianco (who anglicised his name to Francis White), opened an establishment that served both coffee and hot chocolate; he called it Mrs White's Chocolate House. Patrons flocked to St James's Street, not only for the hot beverages, but for the gambling room – the site of illegal, high-stakes card games – tucked away at the back of the premises. White's is still operating, and is London's oldest club. Only men are allowed to join. (King Charles counts among its 1500 members; he held his stag night at White's before his 1981 wedding to Princess Diana.)

Numerous other clubs opened in this manner throughout the Georgian era, Thévoz notes, because gambling dens labelled "private members' clubs" were more difficult for the authorities to raid. As the aristocratic membership increasingly demanded food and entertainment along with their gaming, hospitality professionals took over the management. Brooks's (founded 1764) is another Georgian club that has survived to this day, along with Boodle's (1762), originally called Almack's. Boodle's "is probably the best-preserved 18th-Century clubhouse", Thévoz tells the BBC – passers-by can recognise it by its iconic front-facing bow window.

The Georgian London clubs were known less for political debate than for companionable eating and drinking. Conservative William Praed wrote of his time as an MP from 1774 to 1808:

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