Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to the Mid-Twentieth Century

Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History #1

by Robert Aldrich (Editor), Garry Wotherspoon (Editor)

Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian From Antiquity to the Mid-Twentieth Century is a comprehensive and fascinating survey of the key figures in gay and lesbian history from classical times to the mid-twentieth century. Among those included
* Classical heroes - Achilles; Aeneas; Ganymede
* Literary giants - Sappho; Christopher Marlowe; Arthur Rimbaud; Oscar Wilde
* Royalty and politicians - Edward II; King James I; Horace Walpole; Michel de Montaigne.
Over the course of some 500 entries, expert contributors provide a complete and vivid picture of gay and lesbian life in the Western world throughout the ages.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, Biography, Gay, Biography Memoir

524 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 2000

About the author

Robert Aldrich is an Australian historian and writer. Aldrich is a Professor of European History, he teaches and researches modern European and colonial history, including the history of France since the Revolution, the history of the French and British overseas empires, the history of 'sites of memory' and the history of gender and sexuality.

Reviews

[Rebecca Radnor]

One of the books I read on how to end gender bullying in the schools made the point that part of the problem is that, just as women, African Americans and other minorities used to be absent from history lessons, so to are gays. That as history teachers, if there's a substantive debate that believes an important historical figure was gay, than if we as teachers should make the point of 'we can't be sure but there's strong evidence' of it... this will not only help gay students in their self esteem, but also promote acceptance from their peers.

To this end, I bought this book which is basically reference guide to that effect. So for instance James Buchanan (the only president to never marry, who referred to his male best friend as his better half) is pretty much at this point thought to have been gay (the fact that family members saw fit to destroy many but not all of their letters to each other, suggests those letters were evidence of the full nature of their relationship), and there's a debate that Lincoln might have been bi-sexual. So there's a good chance there has already been a gay president, if not two, something that would go a long way towards the self esteem of gay students.

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

"What do Sappho, Michelangelo, Queen Kristina of Sweden, Oscar Wilde, Magnus Hirschfield, Colette, Henry James and Sigmund Freud have in common? Nothing at first glance, but there is one commonality: they are all significant in the history of homosexuality, and as such they feature in this Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History"


So, to explore the history of homosexuality, this book basically dumps in every name under the topic, whether they are actually gay and lesbian or straight people who study/write/protest/etc the community. It also involves people who are "confirmed" as  homosexual but also "assumed" to be because of ambiguous notes/work/letters/biographies/etc. The editors really do just seem to comb through an extensive amount of history pulling anyone out that seems to mention close or ambiguous friendships and confirmed couples/affairs. I feel like the book would have been a lot shorter if it was confirmed identities rather than historical speculation/interpretation as the majority is based on assumptions and other peoples work/study. Some are... more interesting than others and most quite obscure? A lot of the context, for gay men mostly, are of interactions with younger boys, which isn't the best image. It is written as a book for resources and study rather than a lesiurely read for a topic of interest,  a great book for those researching LGBT+ history and need to find references or figures. However for me, who bought it to read for leisure, I did not find it particularly engaging as I struggled to keep focused, it almost felt reptitive and a bit dull. Though that is me at fault as I had not realised how extensive this book would be as I am used to reading non-fic history books with a narrative. Nonetheless it has been interesting to read.

[Len Nothere · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writers make alot of assumptions abt ppl with very little evidence to go on. They seem to be inlined to find gays/lesbians under every bush.. many with no evidence to substaniate.. piece of crap.. do not really plan to finish reading it...