Homosexuals in History: A Study of Ambivalence in Society, Literature & the Arts

by A.L. Rowse

Michelangelo,Francis Bacon, King Louis XIII, Tchaikovsky, E.M. Forster, Walt Whitman, Henry James. The legacies they left to the world are as varied as their talents and temperaments, yet all shared a single predilection--homosexuality. One of the foremost historians of our time provides a thought-provoking look at these and other homosexual men of genius in society, politics, literature and the arts in this first serious study of the problems and contributions of homosexuals through the ages. B&W photos.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Gay, Queer, Cultural

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Alfred Leslie Rowse, CH FBA, known professionally as A. L. Rowse and to his friends and family as Leslie, was a prolific Cornish historian. He is perhaps best known for his poetry about Cornwall and his work on Elizabethan England. He was also a Shakespearean scholar and biographer. He developed a widespread reputation for irascibility and intellectual arrogance.

One of Rowse's great enthusiasms was collecting books, and he owned many first editions, many of them bearing his acerbic annotations. For example, his copy of the January 1924 edition of The Adelphi magazine edited by John Middleton Murry bears a pencilled note after Murry's poem In Memory of Katherine Mansfield: 'Sentimental gush on the part of JMM. And a bad poem. A.L.R.'

Upon his death in 1997 he bequeathed his book collection to the University of Exeter, and his personal archive of manuscripts, diaries, and correspondence. In 1998 the University Librarian selected about sixty books from Rowse’s own working library and a complete set of his published books. The Royal Institution of Cornwall selected some of the remaining books, and the rest were sold to dealers.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best summary I can find for this book comes from the one I started reading immediately after it (Just Queer Folks, Colin R. Johnson): "[...I]n 1979, and for quite a while thereafter, it was in no way obvious that lesbian and gay identity had a history that could be explained in anything other than grossly pathologizing terms."

Perhaps in 1975 in England, it was acceptable to publish a book on the history of homosexuality that contained minimal history and an excess of the author's personal digressions and overtly biased insults; thankfully, nonfiction has since developed better standards.

Disregarding Rowse's reliance solely on Freudian psychology as being a product of his time, this book is primarily a history of Western Europe, mainly England, with some discussion on the United States; homosexuality apparently stops at the Canadian border. Rowse's incessant need to denigrate the wives and male and female lovers of his subjects--and frequently the citizenry of the world outside of his rarified position--as "dull" gets tedious quickly; the few Irish subjects in the work are casually insulted in stereotypes; and Rowse consistently praises his wealthy subjects' habit of taking lower station lovers or keeping them as servants as a sign of those men disregarding class constrictions while blithely ignoring the massive power differentials inherent in such "relationships."

Overall, this book is little more than an arrogant, elitist old man yelling at clouds.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rowse has a lot of opinions and it's worth approaching this book as someone who might be interested in those opinions because they are often not fully substantiated. The book contains 100% white cis males, although he does briefly refer to Virginia Woolf as 'the lesbian'. He also introduces a fantastically vicious tirade against Lytton Stracchey (and Bertrand Russell by association) for being pacifists, he gets his knickers in a twist over EM Forster's position on Anglo-India, and he hates every wife in sight.

But, if you do want to read the book, I think it's worth approaching Rowse as a homosexual 'in history'. Although he is not well-read now he had a heyday and knew a great many people in the literary world, something that he enjoys telling us all in this book (which is not far from Strachey's reputation today, who's Eminent Victorians has dated and is really of historical and literary interest because of who he was and who he knew).

However, I wouldn't reccomend the book to someone who wanted to read about Homosexuals in History (whatever that title actually means). I might point them towards some of the more nuanced texts emerging in contemporary publishing. Rowse was a controversial historian and Shakespeare scholar. This book feels like some of his lighter weight writing. He was a cantankerous figure from a working class background in a deprived and industrialised area of Cornwall. His narrative voice will divide readers, most will hate him, some will think he's quite funny, and almost nobody will like him.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Avoid. Any amount of wikipedia articles are vastly superior to this. The title should really be pronounced as "The hommohseksewealist in his'try", and that would tell you all that you might need to know. I read this so that you didn't have to.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a serious study, but this book seems to be more a chain of flippant anecdotes with little analysis. It’s quite dated, too, with streaks of Freudianism throughout. Rowse’s writing style is particularly grating - glib and arrogant are the words that come to mind.

[John Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Miserable book that is poorly written with little information. This author goes off on tangents that are off target. Of the over 300 books I’ve read over the past five years, this book was, by far, the worse book I read. This book has very limited value.

[FAHASS]

306.76 ROW

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss this book. It got lost in one of my many moves over the years. Pity. What a great find this was. It was Gold. I had acquired it sometime in the late 80s and referred to it many times. It even had a chapter on the Earl of Beauchamp, whom Evelyn Waugh used as his model for the family in Brideshead Revisited. The poor Earl was exiled for the crime of buggery. His wife left their seven children, youngest age 15, to return to her parents' home. And they all ran amok in some great country house while Waugh wrote some of his best satires.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

From great writers to Nazi thugs, ancient sculptors to modern artists, soldiers and generals, composers, writers, good guys and bad guys, homosexuals have influenced society and history as a direct result of society's effect on them. Homosexuals in History gives a brief, arguably incomplete but nonetheless solid history of gay people in human civilization. Many important historical figures are covered, and the approach is relatively insightful compared to other books on the same broad subject. Author Rowse doesn't just explore how society affected these largely repressed homosexuals; it also shows how they repressed themselves in some cases, and how their own ideas about sexual morality affected their view of themselves, thereby shaping their own unique genius. While not as general as the title implies, Homosexuals in History does offer good perspective on how the topic has been treated as civilization progressed. It may not speak directly about the common, historically non-important "everyman" homosexuals, but in exploring the lives of great gay figures in history it speaks more to the common homosexual than most other books on the topic. A good study for anyone interested in how ideas of homosexuality have shaped many of the world's greatest and worst works of man.

NC

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable and enjoyable book that provides informative sketches of a wide variety of gay men since the Rennaisance until the mid-20th century. The author provides just enough information so a reader can find other books devoted to a specific individual to read more. My only complaints are two, and one regards one of the book's strengths.
That strength is the lack of footnotes, which makes the text flow wonderfully. However, the author at times draws conclusions about a particular individual without providing any information on how that conclusion was reached. He writes as though to an esoteric audience, and if you're not in the know, you may miss how a conclusion was reached.

The second minor flaw is that in the latter part of the book where the author is describing people he had personal contact with, he goes way beyond what I think is acceptable interpretation of information and begins to editorialize on people and situations in ways I think inappropriate. It is a minor criticism, however. The book remains excellent.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated but still interesting. Rowse, a renowned British historian, writes about prominent homosexuals (men only) from the Middle Ages to the 1950s, including royalty, writers and artists, mostly European but with a chapter on Americans at the end. The book is very dry--an historian's factual, biographical account of the subjects and a little about their lovers. Rowse has an old-fashioned view of homosexuality as the product of dominant mothers, but the pattern he observes is undeniable based on the information he provides. Although the writing is a bit dry, so is Rowse's sense of humor (very British), which lightens it up.

[Jean Marie Angelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ponderous study of gay history. Was an important volume, though, in looking at a history long held in shadow and secret.

[Harold Coutts · Rating 2 out of 5]

thought shakespeare was hetero.. yikes