Sex: Lessons From History

Name: Sex: Lessons From History
Brand: Hachette UK
Availability: InStock
Author: Fern Riddell
ISBN: 9781473666283

Author: Fern Riddell

Narrator: Fern Riddell

Unabridged: 8 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Published: 06/22/2021

Categories: Nonfiction, History, Modern History, Women, Social Science, Human Sexuality

Synopsis

A powerful new cultural history of sex written by one of the UK's most prominent historians.

Sex, for the entirety of human history, has never been about reproduction. Statistically speaking, only one out of every one thousand sexual acts between a man and a woman will result in a pregnancy. And, as we know, sex does not solely take place just between men and women.

So: what is sex for?

In this wide-ranging and powerful new history of sex, Dr Fern Riddell will uncover the sexual lives of our ancestors and show that, just like us, they were as preoccupied with sexual identities, masturbation, foreplay, sex and deviance; facing it with the same confusion, joy and accidental hilarity that we do today.

By looking at how history has dealt with different parts of our sexual experience, we're taken on an illuminating and entertaining journey about why we have sex - and what that means today.

(P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

About Fern Riddell

Dr Fern Riddell is a historian specialising in sex, suffrage and culture in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. She appears regularly on TV and radio, and writes for the Guardian, Huffington Post, Telegraph and Times Higher Education among others, and is a columnist for BBC History Magazine.

Reviews

Goodreads review by books4chess on June 03, 2021

"To understand that who we love and how we desire is not biologically determined or binary" I am truly so glad I had the opportunity to read this and broaden my horizons on the sexual landscape of humanity! A lot of sexual health books at the moment focus on the biology and expectations we place on s......more

Goodreads review by Liv on December 29, 2021

Such an interesting cultural history ! Breaking down the prudish Victorian stereotype to look at the work of sex education campaigners and legal cases was so interesting. It also establishes that there has always been diversity, queerness and difference in sexuality and gender identity- it's not a '......more

Goodreads review by Colby on June 05, 2021

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for my copy of this arc. This book was absolutely fascinating. It provided an in depth and detailed review of our sexual history, highlighting documents and articles throughout the ages that referenced society's desire to find sexual pleasure. Riddell ai......more

Goodreads review by Siâni on May 29, 2021

In 2021, you wouldn’t think we’d need a book teaching us the history of sex. I think we’re all guilty of believing we have now reached the pinnacle of sexual freedom and expression, especially in Britain. We have contraception, sex toy shops on the Highstreet, and tv shows like Bridgerton and Outlan......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on June 03, 2021

Fern Riddell's "Sex: Lessons From History" is an extensively researched historical study of sex and all things relating to it. The book places particular emphasis on the Victorian era. It's packed full of anecdotes, true crime case studies and old Court records. I love how women are brought to the f......more