Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II (Vol 1) [Hardcover]

Robert Aldrich (Editor), Garry Wotherspoon (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0415159822 | ISBN-13: 978-0415159821

Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History: 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 are:
* 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Aldrich and Wotherspoon (history, Univ. of Sydney) are brave editors, as a "who's who" for gay studies might be seen as concretizing in an area in which the constructionist/essentialist debate is still a minefield. Nevertheless, they provide an articulate rationale for this book in their introduction. In addition to justifying the "who's who" approach in general at a time when social history moves the focus to "unknown" people, they seek to include anyone of significance in the history of sexual minorities without any limits based on what the subjects did in bed. Well over 100 contributors have written the 500 entries, which range from Sappho to Andr? Gide; most entries are accompanied by a bibliography. This is a scholarly alternative to more celebratory or localized works such as Paul Elliott Russell's The Gay 100 (Citadel, 1996). Along with the companion volume, Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History, also edited by Aldrich and Wotherspoon, it belongs in every library concerned with world history. David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

...[this title contributes] significantly to gay, lesbian, and bisexual studies and offer entries for more people and geographical locations than [similar titles]. Recommended for academic, large public and high school libraries.
–Choice, November 2001

This is a scholarly alternative to more celebratory or localized works ... it belongs in every library concerned with world history.
–Library Journal, October 1,2001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (December 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415159822
• ISBN-13: 978-0415159821
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,497,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very interesting book, January 6, 2001

By 

SEBASTIANVS "libra64" (TOKYO Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II (Vol 1) (Hardcover)

I was deeply disappointed when I received and opened this book, since I had expected a more comprehensive encyclopedia of the topic. However, the book contains only famous European people with the exception of very few entries like Jesus, Hafez, David and Jonathan. I couldn't find so many renowned Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Arabian, Persian, Turkish "Gay & Lesbian" people !
In addition, it lacks lots of celebrated Occidental persons, like the Roman emperor Galba, Juan 2nd of Castilla, Rudolph 2nd of Holy Roman empire or so , et descriptions of some items are not very detailed ----- e.g. in "Jesus" of Nazareth, there are no mention of his "the beloved" disciple, Ioannes euangelistes, Lazaros, or Ioannes Markos, ..... , but also the author does not refer to "Secret Gospel of Mark" at all, as if Jesus(Iesous) Christos was heterosexual.
Hence, I think the editors should name the book "Who's Who in Famous Western Gay & Lesbian History".

Nevertheless it is a very interesting and readable book not only for gay & lesbian people, but for bisexual/ heterosexual inclined men and women.