Sexuality and Its Impact on History: The British Stripped Bare

Sexuality and Its Impact on History: The British Stripped Bare

Available March 2018! 

Pre-order now!

Sexuality and Its Impact on History: the British Stripped Bare chronicles the pleasures and perils of the flesh, sharing secrets from the days of the Anglo-Saxons, medieval courtly love traditions, and Tudor escapades - including those of Anne Boleyn and Mary Queen of Scots - the Regency, and down to the 'prudish' Victorian era. This scholarly yet accessible study brings to light the myriad varieties of British sexual mores. Published by Pen&Sword Books, UK.

Chapter 1

Godiva: Lady, Legend, Legacy

Emma Haddon-Wright

Chapter 2

Rioting in the Harlot’s Embrace: Matrimony & Sanctimony in Anglo-Saxon England

Annie Whitehead

Chapter 3

The Art of Courtly Love: The Ideal and Practice of Love in the Middle Ages

Jessica Cale

Chapter 4

The Tudor Marriage Game

MaryAnne Coleman

Chapter 5 

These Bloody Days: The Relationship between Anne Boleyn & Thomas Wyatt

Judith Arnopp

Chapter 6 

The Marriages of Mary Queen of Scots

Gayle Hulme

Chapter 7

Succession, Confusion and Ramifications: Who Should Wear the Crown?

Dr. Beth Lynne

Chapter 8

Lips of Flame & Heart of Stone

The Impact of Prostitution in Victorian Britain and its Global Influence

Hunter S. Jones

The Chainmakers by Helen Spring - A Review by Judith Arnopp

If you want to be totally absorbed into the past, experience the joys, sorrows and hardships of the late 19th - early 20th century then this is the book for you. I bought the kindle edition on Thursday lunchtime and completely lost the next 24 hours while I read it.
The Chainmakers is an experience rather than just a 'read', you follow Anna on her life journey, from childhood, through the pangs of first love, through marriage and childbirth to late middle age. Her story takes you across the Atlantic from England to New York and shows you the difficulties that ordinary, law abiding people suffered, both in the manufacturing towns of the UK and under prohibition and mob law in the U.S.A.
Ms Spring's competent narrative sweeps the reader effortlessly from the filth of the 19th century factory floor to the elegant drawing rooms of New York. Her characters sing, the settings are masterfully drawn and the plot intriging. I can not imagine why this is not on the best seller list. Very highly recommended.