SUBTITLED "a sexual history of the 18th century", this contains chapters on courtesans, libertines, homosexuals, flagellation, transvestism and other headline grabbing sexual habits.
It is horrifyingly informative (those convicted of sodomy were hanged) but ultimately titillating rather than enlightening. What were ordinary people, who had neither the time or money to indulge in unusual practices, up to?
Women had neither power nor choice and their depressing situation taints these
chapters which, after all, are mostly about men seeking sexual gratification at their expense.
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