A Queer Scrapbook : Britain and Ireland Since 1945

Author: Bengry, Justin

British Isles

Published on 17 March 2026 by MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS in the United Kingdom.

Paperback / softback | 224 pages, 221 colour illustrations
198 x 129

A beautifully illustrated compendium of LGBTIQ+ life.

A queer scrapbook offers a treasure trove of LGBTIQ+ histories from across Britain and Ireland. Packed with materials, from interviews and newspaper articles to photographs and flyers, the book explores urban, rural and regional queer life since 1945.

Commentaries and short essays introduce a changing queer landscape, spotlighting four broad themes: home and family, sex and socialising, arts and culture and politics and activism. The book delves into the meaning and experiences of domesticity and parenting and explores the sometimes unexpected places LGBTIQ+ people met to have fun. It examines the importance of creative work in forming community and identity and shows how people fought injustice and advocated for equal rights.

Collecting has been a way for the marginalised to explore and assert identity and community. A queer scrapbook vividly illustrates the diversity of queer and trans lives across the British and Irish isles since the Second World War. -- .