Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals [Paperback]

Keith Stern (Author), Ian McKellen (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

"Includes biographies of over 900 prominent people, from 2450 BC to today"--Cover.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Keith Stern has produced some of the most popular biographical Web sites on the Internet. Since 1997 he has been collaborating with Sir Ian McKellen on the actor's autobiographical Web site, McKellen.com. He has also produced official Web sites for Lynn Redgrave, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Spinal Tap, the film "Gods and Monsters" and others for movie stars and movies. Stern started in the music business as a musician followed by several years with Warner Bros Records in field promotion, public relations, A&R and IT. In 1979 in Charlotte, North Carolina he transformed "The Milestone" into a showcase punk rock/new wave music venue and in 1981 with Ben Clark, he opened a larger venue "Viceroy Park." As an independent promoter, he produced many early concerts for punk/new wave acts including R.E.M., The Ramones, The Go-Go's, Iggy Pop, Bow Wow Wow and Joan Jett. His screenplay "Freezing Time" will be filmed in 2009, starring Andy Serkis ("Lord of the Rings," "King Kong"). Keith currently lives in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: BenBella Books (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933771879
• ISBN-13: 978-1933771878
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Bisexuality

More About the Author

Keith Stern has produced some of the most popular biographical websites on the Internet. Since 1997 he has been collaborating with Ian McKellen on that actor's autobiographical website, McKellen.com. He also has also produced websites for Lynn Redgrave (Redgrave.com), Sean Astin (SeanAstin.com), Andy Serkis (Serkis.com), Spinal Tap (SpinalTap.com), Gods and Monsters (GodsAndMonsters.net) and others for movie stars and movies.

Stern started in the music business as a musician followed by several years with Warner Bros Records in field promotion, public relations, A&R, and IT. In 1979 in Charlotte, North Carolina, he transformed "The Milestone" into a showcase punk rock/new wave music venue and in 1981 with Ben Clark, he opened a larger venue "Viceroy Park." As an independent promoter, he produced many early concerts for punk/new wave acts including R.E.M., The Ramones, The Go-Go's, Iggy Pop, Bow Wow Wow, and Joan Jett.

In 1993 Stern published Queers in History on CD-ROM, one of the first "new media" titles to be sold through bookstores. The contents included 850 biographies of historical personages who were gay, lesbian, or bisexual. It also included a trivia game, "Queeries." A new trade paperback edition of Queers in History was published by BenBella Books in 2009.

Stern has written a feature-length screenplay, Freezing Time, based on the life of pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge which will be produced in 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Questionable Credibility, June 14, 2010

By 

M. Johnson (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals (Paperback)

Queers in History is best described as the hybrid of an encyclopedia and a gossip column. It's certainly entertaining in places, but I'm not convinced that all of the claims are credible. I wish there were more discussion of the sources that led to the author's conclusions. Also, the book contains many individuals who had just a single homosexual experience; I don't know if that necessarily qualifies them as queer.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who? What? WOW!, October 16, 2009

By 

Ophelia Chong "opheliac" (Los Angeles CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals (Paperback)

I could not put this book down, it's like a bag of potato chips; once you start, you can't stop. The importance of this book is in the title "Queers in History", what made them famous, infamous, was not just their sexuality but their sense of purpose. But did their sexuality play an important part in it? Most likely because what drives gay, straight, bi people are their goals in life, and their decisions in life are made emotionally, what they feel, what they need, what fuels their passions.

Keith Stern's book is not just a historical look at homosexuality but it brings to the forefront what is the common denominator of us all, the search for our own "place in the world". I highly recommend this book as a gift to all your straight, gay, bi, transexual friends and as a book to place on the coffee table to start lively conversations at any social gathering.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GLBT's contribution to society is substantial, June 4, 2011

By 

Ellen P (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals (Paperback)

This book is fun to read, I also hardly could put it down and it has a reference function as well. The author Keith Stern inserted a quite a number of surprises, but most of all the book is making us all aware how GLBTs enriched our civilization, having contributed substantially to society and the arts. Our world would not have been the same without this input and creativity. Highly recommended!
By the way, don't lend it out to friends, hard to get back. I am now buying this as a gift to them.

For you Kindlers out there have a look here;
Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals