Just crawling out from under the Victorian blanket, Europe was devastated by a gruesome war that consumed the flower of its youth. Tamagne dissects the strands of euphoria, rebellion, exploration, nostalgia and yearning, and the bonds forged at school and on the battlefront, in a scholarly treatise charting the early days of the homosexual and lesbian scene. The period between the two world wars was crucial in the history of homosexuality in Europe. It was then that homosexuality first came out into the light of day. Berlin became the capital of the new culture, and the center of a political movement seeking rights and protections for what we now call gays and lesbians. In England, the confruntation was brisk to undermine the structures and strictures of Victorianism; whereas in France (which was more tolerant, over all), homosexuality remained more subtle and nonmilitant. Tamagne's 2-volume work outlines the long and arduous journey from the shadows toward acceptability as the homosexual and lesbian community sets out to find a new legitimacy at various levels of society. She weaves together cultural references from literature, songs and theater, news stories and private correspondence, police reports and government documents to give a rounded picture of the evolving scene.

Against the late nineteenth-century European trend of theoretical elaborations of negative homosexual stereotypes and the legal persecution of homosexuals, German sexologist, Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) introduced a scientific and humanistic approach to homosexual emancipation. Radical from the outset, his pioneering theorizations of gender overturned the dual sex system and revealed the artificiality of gender. Beyond destabilizing traditional concepts of masculinity and femininity and substantiating the naturalness of such phenomena as homosexual, intersexed, and transgendered identities, Hirschfeld deployed his theories to serve as the basis of a steadfast and influential campaign for the decriminalization of homosexuality and an international sexual freedom movement that championed the principal causes of the women’s movement and the rights of all sexual minorities. Integrating the predominant cultural, scientific, and political discourses during Hirschfeld’s lifetime, Elena Mancini illuminates his cosmopolitan and classical liberal political and cultural stance, showing him as more than a homosexual theorist and activist. This fascinating study shows how his opposition to fascism and to all forms of sexual and racial hierarchies makes him a humanist for our times and an inspiration for those who strive for social and political inclusion and tolerance.

Outstanding Academic Title 2005 - Choice Magazine The period between the two world wars was crucial in the history of homosexuality in Europe. It was then that homosexuality first came out into the light of day. Just crawling out from under the Victorian blanket, Europe was devastated by a gruesome war that consumed the flower of its youth. Tamagne examines the currents of nostalgia and yearning, euphoria, rebellion, and exploration in the postwar era, and the bonds forged at school and on the battlefront, in a scholarly treatise charting the early days of the homosexual and lesbian scene. Berlin became the capital of the new culture, and the center of a political movement seeking rights and protections for what we now call gays and lesbians. In England, the struggle was brisk to undermine the structures and strictures of Victorianism; whereas in France (which was more tolerant, over all), homosexuality remained more subtle and nonmilitant. However, the social and political backlash soon became apparent, first of all in Germany. More conservative attitudes arrested the evolution of the new mores, and it was not until the 1960s that the new wave of the sexual revolution once again swept the continent. Tamagne's work outlines the long and arduous journey from the shadows toward acceptability as the homosexual and lesbian community sets out to find a new legitimacy at various levels of society. She weaves together cultural references from literature, songs and theater, news stories and private correspondence, police reports and government documents to give a rounded picture of the evolving scene. * "The first volume argues that homosexuality, a 'high culture' sort, enjoyed a golden ageconsequent upon the Great War's liberalization of morals. In volume 2, reaction and repression march through the 1930s. [...] A lively read. Highly recommended." - CHOICE Magazine * Florence Tamagne holds a PhD from the prestigious Institute of Political Studies in Paris, France. This is her second book tracing the evolution of homosexuality in Europe.

"Lesbians are both outside the law and within it. Lesbians are always under the rule of law, under the rule of men. As les-bian legal theory, Ruthann Robson--author of Cecile and The Eye Of A Hurricane, and an attorney on the faculty of the CUNY Law School--asks the question: How can lesbians use the law without being used by it?"--BOOK JACKET.

A bestseller in its field, A History of Western Society examines the lives of both historical figures and ordinary people, using an engaging, lively writing style to capture and maintain student interest. The authors pay careful attention to political and cultural phenomena, providing a balanced account of Western history as a whole.In addition to its emphasis on social history, the Eighth Edition retains the text's hallmark pedagogical features and visual appeal. In order to promote critical thinking, Listening to the Past features present primary source documents and Questions for Analysis that reinforce themes in social history. Individuals in Society biography features focus on the impact of historical events on an individual or group and explain the actions taken by those people.

Just crawling out from under the Victorian blanket, Europe was devastated by a gruesome war that consumed the flower of its youth. Tamagne dissects the strands of euphoria, rebellion, exploration, nostalgia and yearning, and the bonds forged at school and on the battlefront, in a scholarly treatise charting the early days of the homosexual and lesbian scene. The period between the two world wars was crucial in the history of homosexuality in Europe. It was then that homosexuality first came out into the light of day. Berlin became the capital of the new culture, and the center of a political movement seeking rights and protections for what we now call gays and lesbians. In England, the confruntation was brisk to undermine the structures and strictures of Victorianism; whereas in France (which was more tolerant, over all), homosexuality remained more subtle and nonmilitant.