Class Apart (Old Edition) [Paperback]

James Gardiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1993

The archives of Montague Glover (1898-1983), consisting of photographs and letters which document the rarely recorded lives of gay men in the UK from World War I to the 1950s. In particular, the photographs portray three subjects: the Armed Forces, working class men and Montague's lover.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Gardiner works as a researcher, author and film stylist specialising in popular entertainment and the gay life which was, and is, so often connected with it. He deals in pictorial ephemera relating to these subjects, and has built up a unique photo-archive of old picture postcards from the period. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail (May 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852422505
• ISBN-13: 978-1852422509
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,532,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a worthy addition to any gay man's collection, January 13, 2000

By 

"bartonclark" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Class Apart (Old Edition) (Paperback)

The price is a bit dear but worth it for those interested in pre war gay Britain. Gives insights into a very Edwardian gay couple and as a bonus lots of info about gay men in Britain and where and how they connected in the years before World War 2. I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend it.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rough Trade, February 29, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: A Class Apart: The Private Pictures of Montague Glover (Paperback)

This is a fascinating book on several levels. The pictures document a classic gay aethestic that survives today, and the text douments what was really behind it.

"Rough Trade" is a gay term that dates back to the 19th Century, and was a term coined by artistocratic gay males whose sexual tastes were toward physically robust, crude working class men and boys. To the effete artistocrats with their soft bodies and socialization, the pure physical lust and crude masculinity of the simple farm boy or laborer was the ultimate sexual delight. The 'sin' of flouting class differences and having wild sex with your so-called 'inferiors' doubled the pleasure for these men.

None other than Oscar Wilde himself described this indulgence as 'feasting with panthers'. It is often forgotten that the public outrage to his sexual activities was as much about his flouting of class barriers as his homosexuality. Wilde's indiscretions on BOTH sides of the class barrier, constantly endulging himself with adolescent street boys, and flouting a Viscount who warned Wilde repeatedly to stop diddling his son.

This book definately provides a peak into the era before gay sexual liberation and gay identity politics. What is often misinterpreted as homophobia is in reality resentment of the masses toiling 12 hour a day for starvation wages so the sons of aristocrats could flit around and endulge the boredom of their idleness by seducing economically desperate working class males.