A Little Gay History : Desire and Diversity across the World

Author: Parkinson, R. B., Smith, Kate

Society & social sciences

Published on 10 June 2013 by BRITISH MUSEUM PRESS.

Paperback / softback | 128 pages, 80 colour illustrations
183 x 178 x 11 | 352g

How old is the oldest chat-up line between men? Who was the first 'lesbian'? Were ancient Greek men who had sex together necessarily 'gay'? And what did Shakespeare think about cross-dressing? A Little Gay History takes objects ranging from Ancient Egyptian papyri and the erotic scenes on the Roman Warren Cup to images by modern artists including David Hockney and Bhupen Khakhar to consider questions such as these. Explored are the issues behind forty artefacts from ancient times to the present, and from cultures across the world, to ask a question that concerns us all: how easily can we recognize love in history?