A Gay History of Britain: Love and Sex Between Men Since the Middle Ages. Edited by Matt Cook with H G Cocks, Robert Mills and Randolph Trumbach. Greenwood World Publishing: Westport CT, 2007. 256 p. ISBN 978-1846450020. Hardcover. $49.95.

Jennings, Rebecca. A Lesbian History of Britain: Love and Sex Between Women Since 1500. Greenwood World Publishing, 2007. 227 p. ISBN: 978-1846450075. $49.95.

A series of six essays, A Gay History of Britain provides an overview of the way British society has viewed sex between men during the period from 1000 to 2007. Each essay examines the social norms of the period, spells out the language used to describe male sexual behavior, what is and what is not accepted by society, the legal ramifications and the social arrangements of community during that era.

The authors do not try to analyze past sexual behavior with 21st century definitions and are very strict in their use of period terminology to describe how men behaved during the periods that they are writing about. The notes and further reading sections provide the resources needed to find more in depth information.

In the companion volume, A Lesbian History of Britain, Rebecca Jennings looks at the lives and loves of women both ordinary and famous to tell the story of British Lesbianism. She draws on resources from medical records to popular fiction, public records of court cases to private correspondence and diaries to show the development of the community and culture.

This work is arranged chronologically: chapters cover early accounts of several women who passed as men, romantic friendships in the 1700’s & 1800’s, the scene before, between, and after the World Wars, and culminating in today’s political movements and debates.

Reviewed by Norman Eriksen
Assistant Division Manager
Languages, Literature & Fiction
Brooklyn Public Library