Opis: Sex and Punishment - Eric Berkowitz

The 'raging frenzy' of the sex drive has always defied control, yet thousands of years of civilization have tried to do so, wielding their most formidable weapon: the law. At any given point in time, some forms of sex were condoned while others were punished mercilessly. Jump forward or backward a century or two and the harmless fun of one time period becomes the gravest crime in another. Sex and Punishment tells the story of the struggle throughout millennia to regulate the most powerful engine of human behaviour: sex. Writer and lawyer Eric Berkowitz evokes the entire sweep of Western sex law, from the savage impalement of an Ancient Mesopotamian adulteress to the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde in 1895 for 'gross indecency'. The cast of Sex and Punishment is as varied as the forms taken by human desire itself: royal mistresses, gay charioteers, medieval transvestites, lonely goat-lovers, prostitutes of all stripes and London rent boys. Each of them had forbidden sex, and each was judged - and justice, as Berkowitz shows - rarely had anything to do with it. "A wonderful exposure of the illogicality of so much legislation that attempts to regulate sexual activity ... from the age of consent to adultery and sex on college campuses." Mary Beard "I don't think I've ever read such an entertaining historical work. It has the wisdom granted by perspective, without the condescension of someone who thinks we're wiser than our ancestors. Whether you want to fuel your indignation, or simply furnish yourself with enough jaw-dropping data to galvanise a hundred party conversations, you really must shell out for this book. It's worth every penny." Nicholas Lezard, Guardian "At once broad-ranging and rich in detail, Berkowitz s cross examination of human sexuality is both exciting and impressively relentless." James McConnachie, Sunday Times "...throughout history men and women have been forced to pay a fearful price for doing what to the birds and bees comes naturally. As Eric Berkowitz points out in this fascinating and gruesomely compelling study of human sexuality, the consequences for those whose proclivities fall outside the boundaries of convention have generally proved devastating." Simon Griffith, Mail on Sunday "Stimulating - Berkowitz has achieved a perfect balance between case study and analysis, and between narrative and reflection. - This is a wonderfully well-written, well-organised and accomplished book. But it comes with a health warning. 350 pages of sex resulting in impalement or a barbed fish up the bottom may have a deleterious effect on the libido.' Sara Wheeler, Literary Review "Throughout Berkowitz smoothly straddles the divide between the explicit and the subtle, the ridiculous and the sublime...Sex and Punishment constantly reminds us not to be complacent about past victories - nor to rest until genuine equality has been won, from the barricades to the bedroom." Socialist Review "An illuminating and deftly told account of the two urges that have done so much to define civilization: humanity s appetite for sex and its concern to regulate the consequences. As Eric Berkowitz shows, both impulses have been in flux for centuries, and his colourful history serves as a timely reminder of just how arbitrary and ludicrous the moral certainties of one era can appear to the next." Sadakat Kadri, author of 'The Trial: A History, from Socrates to O. J. Simpson' " Eric Berkowitz leads us through the inventive and ultimately futile ways that mankind has tried to tame its most troublesome pleasure. His compehensive tour is sometimes funny, more often scary but always entertaining." A. J. Langguth, author of 'Patriots: The Men Who Started the American Revolution' "Sex and Punishment is built on solid scholarship and spiced with plenty of sordid details that will make you the hit of any cocktail party." Christopher Ryan, author of 'Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality' "It's rare that a book so well researched and provocative is also so downright entertaining Sex and Punishment will have you gripped and fascinated (and sometimes laughing out loud) at how legal systems over the millennia have attempted to regulate mankind's unruly carnal desires. The chapter on ancient Mesopotamia alone is worth the price of the book." Tony Perrottet, author of 'Napoleon's Privates'Contents: Introduction 7 One Channeling the Urge: The First Sex Laws 15 Two Honor among (Mostly) Men: Cases from Ancient Greece 52 Three Imperial Bedrooms: Sex and the State in Ancient Rome 77 Four The Middle Ages: A Crowd Condemned 107 Five Groping toward Modernity: The Early Modern Period, 1500 - 1700 149 Six The New World of Sexual Opportunity 195 Seven The Eighteenth Century: Revelation and Revolution 229 Eight The Nineteenth Century: Human Nature on Trial 275 Notes 326 Bibliography 342 Acknowledgements 358 Photo credits 360 Index 361

Szczegóły: Sex and Punishment - Eric Berkowitz

Tytuł: Sex and Punishment
Autor: Eric Berkowitz
Producent: Saqi Books
ISBN: 9781908906007
Rok produkcji: 2012
Ilość stron: 368
Oprawa: Miękka

Recenzje: Sex and Punishment - Eric Berkowitz