Customer Reviews

A History of Orgies (Prion Lost Treasures)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Would-be authors have always been advised to write about what they know. This surprisingly well-done history work was the first and only book written by a young man after he "came down from his Christ Church History Readings at Oxford." It was published by one of his classmates and appeared in 1958 when the book's author was 23-years old. "He enjoyed his time at Oxford immensely and it was lucky for him that in those days it was still possible to be a serious student while still leading a life reminiscent of the pages of `Brideshead Revisited.'" The book proved popular enough even in that prudish period of history to save the original publisher from bankruptcy. This book was to be Partridge's only book because he died at age of twenty-eight only a few months after the birth of his only child, a daughter.
The book is easy reading. The two lengthiest sections are on the Greeks and the Romans. It was obvious that the author didn't care for the Roman's prostitution of the relatively harmless orgies intended to let off steam of the Greeks, into brutal circuses of perversion, sadistic torture and even death during the Roman era.
Orgies are defined as "wild gatherings, marked by promiscuous sexual activity, excessive drinking, etc." Fortunately after the fall of the Roman World, the majority of orgies as practiced throughout the western world returned to the more standard and much less harmful "wild parties of sexual, and drunken pleasures."
"The teachings of the Church on sexual matters was not accepted by the medical profession who held that continence was unwise and unhealthy, and prescribed more frequent sexual intercourse to their patients." Medieval Knights were anything but the current stereotypical pillars of the "chivalrous, chaste, the respecter and helper of damsels in distress and in every way a perfect gentleman was one created by Christians and Victorian re-writers of history. "
"The first thought of every knight on finding a lady unprotected, was to do her violence" usually by rape.
One Arch Bishop of Sens in the tenth century "taking a fancy to the Abbey of St. Peter, drove out the monks and established a harem of concubines in the refectory and installed his hounds and hawks in the cloister."
"Henry III, Bishop of Liege, was known to have sixty-five illegitimate children."
The author takes his readers through a well-documented and often amusing tour of orgies throughout history and into the Twentieth Century. It is peppered with colorful, legendary personalities of sexual legend and myth along with a box car full of interesting trivia. The book is easy to read, although slightly academic in tone as befits a serious work of history by an Oxford Scholar. It's not as exhaustive in scope as say "The History Channel's `History of Sex" Series,'" but it does a good job succeeding with its more limited coverage. The volume contains a few illustrations of ancient art depicting religious orgies, a selected bibliography as well as a good index.
It's a real shame the author died at age 28 just when he was approaching the maturity at which time he might have been able to make much greater contributions to documenting history. This is a good, short, 208 page historical survey of orgies in the Western World.

The "Book A History of Orgies" as a previous reviewer said was written by a 22 year old Oxford Graduate. This book was published in 1958 and must have created a scandal. Why? The book is an exposé of the human views, across the ages, about sex and beauty. This book can be seen as a history book of the history that was and is not taught, because is contrary to our believe system, ideals, and morals. Humankind sexual history in 213 pages (excluding the index and bibliography)! The more you read, the more you find out the real reason for our modern neurotic condition. It is fascinating to see a book that was written in 1958 that has not been widely advertised showing the way to the understanding of our nature. No matter how you want to accommodate religious morality within human nature you will find that sex is one of the most controversial issues. Historically, virginity has determined the quality of our females and fidelity has determined the character of men, but; at what price?

If we read this book and analyze it, and then ponder about our lives and the constraints imposed upon us by our upbringing, our religions, and our society we will come to the conclusion that we live a life of privation of love, sex, beauty and satisfaction. Those privations are the sole culprit of our psychological sickness. The message of the book is live to enjoy life at its most without hurting anyone! Our social tapestry has made the enjoyment of life a crime when a crime is something done to curtail someone life, freedom, property and happiness! Most of today's morals are outdated and without any reason. Families are been disintegrated because the stupidity of feminism and chauvinism that have annihilated the values of the family by conforming to the Christian created and imposed family model that was enacted on the 11th Century by the Pope Gregory VII enforced monogamy and celibacy at the same time. This action was the seed of destruction of the family through divorce or abandonment. One thousand years of unhappiness, one thousand years of adultery, one thousand years of human misery thanks to the Church!

That is the real message inside this book!

A book that should be read by any serious and avid sex and human relations researcher.

I was asked to help organize a party for a client at my place of employment that was themed on the Roman Feast, so I purchased this book with a mind to giving them the most authentic event possible. I was greatly charmed by the detail(s) offered by the book, which emphasized the true details of the history of this society art form. The event never actually happened at our venue but the client did use some of the ideas I sourced for her in the book, and seemed pleased enough. Of course, this isn't just a resource book and can be read purely for pleasure, as well.

I order this book inorder to recieve some insight on the history of sexual behavior in various culture. I found this book to be a helpful guild, funny and a good tool to use in my creative writing on sexual history.

More a cursory glance at the history of orgies than a really exhaustively satisfying romp through orgy eternity that would leave the reader feeling more than a little spent. It really misses some of the lesser known orgies whose impact on orgy history might be greater than the author realized. But, over all, a very good survey, tracing the orgy from its neanderthal origins in which all the women were unconscious right up to the one I took part in back in the 1980's when I gave it to at least four co-workers - all feminists - at a so-called meeting of concerned intellectuals about indigenous tribes who I am convinced would've killed many a fire-water seller in exchange for the lubricants we used that evening.