Dr Kate Lister is a university lecturer. She researches the
history of sexuality and curates the online research project Whores
of Yore. She is also a columnist for iNews and the Wellcome Trust
where she writes about the history of sex. Kate won the Sexual
Freedom Award for Publicist of the Year in 2017.
thewhoresofyore.com / @WhoresofYore
'Buckle your trousers, fasten your seatbelts, here comes Kate
Lister. Her curious history of sex is a wild ride, made all the
more enjoyable by a wonderfully irreverent approach . . . I’ve
never had so much fun learning stuff' The Times 'A wonderful
cornucopia of deviance and desire' The Times books of the year 'Had
Victoria Wood decided to write a scholarly book about sex, it would
be like this. Lister has a saucy wit . . . I laughed out loud.'
Daily Mail 'Lister romps her way through masturbation, menstruation
and prostitution, the invention of condoms, the use of vibrators to
cure hysteria and much more . . . Glorious' Evening Standard 'An
anecdote-rich chronicle that uncovers layer on layer of oppression
. . . vivid and playful' Guardian 'A riot to read' New
Statesman
'Brilliant . . . A must-read' Dan Snow 'An eye opener. Thoughtful
but fun, scholarly but spritely . . . and a bit rude!' Sir Tony
Robinson ‘A generous, thoughtful, uncensored history of sex. From
virginity tests to vegetable dildos, onanism to orgasm,
menstruation to male sex work, this fascinating book encourages us
to take a long hard look at how history has shaped understandings
of sex as we know it today, and how sex might best be guided into
the future’ Annie Sprinkle, pleasure activist and author of The
Explorer’s Guide to Planet Orgasm 'A wonderfully entertaining read.
Worth going along for the ride! Kate Lister’s Curious History of
Sex is great fun and brilliantly illustrated. Lister wears her
learning lightly, and is ready to laugh and occasionally gasp with
horror along with her readers at some of the strange facts she
unearths. Lister’s erudition never distances the reader and her
tolerance and understanding means you never feel preached at. A
fantastic guide to the strange history of human sexuality in all
its forms and also very, very, funny!' Catharine Arnold, author of
City of Sin: London and its Vices ‘Simply brilliant. Exploding with
facts and anecdotes, and always presented with warmth by a
historian who clearly loves her subject’ Lucy-Anne Holmes, author
of Don’t Hold My Head Down
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