Sex in History

Sex in history chronicles the pleasures and perils of the flesh from the time of mankind’s distant ancestors to the modern day; from a sexual act which was brief, crude and purposeful, to the myriad varieties of contemporary s*xual mores. Reay Tannahill’s scholarly, yet accessible study ranges from the earliest form of contr*ception (one Egyptian concoction included crocodile dung) to some latter-day misconceptions about it like the men who joined their lovers in taking the pill “just to be on the safe side.” It surveys all manner of sexual practice, preference and position (the acrobatic “wheelbarrow” position, the strenuous “hovering butterflies” position…) and draws on sources as diverse as the admirable discourses of the Plain Girl, the Exhibition of Female Flag*llants, Important Matters of the Jade Chamber and The Romance of Ch*stisement. Whether writing on andr*gyny, courtly love, flag***ation or zo***lia, Turkish eun*chs, Greek d*ldo*s, Taoist s*x manuals or Japanese g*isha girls, Reay Tannahill is consistently enlightening and entertaining.