
Desire
A History of European Sexuality
Anna Clark(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
3rd Edition
Will be published approx. on 31. July 2026
Book
Hardback
356 pages
978-1-032-96152-1 (ISBN)
Description
A sweeping survey of sexuality in Europe from the ancient Greeks to the present, Desire: A History of European Sexuality follows changing attitudes to two major concepts of sexual desire-desire as dangerous, polluting, and disorderly, and desire as creative, transcendent, even revolutionary-through the major turning points of European history.
Chronological in structure, and wide ranging in scope, Desire addresses such topics as sex in ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, sexual contact and culture clash in Spain and colonial Mesoamerica, new attitudes toward sexuality in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and sex in Bolshevik Russia and Nazi Germany. The book introduces the concept of "twilight moments" to describe activities seen as shameful or dishonorable, but which were tolerated when concealed by shadows, and integrates the history of heterosexuality with same-sex desire, as well as exploring the emotions of love and lust alongside the politics of sex and personal experiences.
This new edition has been updated to include more on trans histories and sexual identities in the context of the recent multiplication of sexual and gender identities. It also brings in more on materialism, embodiment, and the history of emotion. In addition to the new chapter on imperialism from the second edition, the third edition now includes an additional chapter on early medieval Christianity and Islam, concentrating on the tensions between mysticism and regulation. The book concludes with a new chapter that explores how activists from the 1970s onward linked sexual pleasure to bodily care, particularly in the contexts of abortion, AIDS, and gender-affirming trans healthcare.
Drawing on a rich array of sources, including poetry, novels, pornography, and film, as well as court records, autobiographies, and personal letters, and written in a lively, engaging style, Desire remains an essential resource for scholars and students of the history of European sexuality, as well as women's and gender history, social and cultural history, and LGBTQ history.
Chronological in structure, and wide ranging in scope, Desire addresses such topics as sex in ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, sexual contact and culture clash in Spain and colonial Mesoamerica, new attitudes toward sexuality in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and sex in Bolshevik Russia and Nazi Germany. The book introduces the concept of "twilight moments" to describe activities seen as shameful or dishonorable, but which were tolerated when concealed by shadows, and integrates the history of heterosexuality with same-sex desire, as well as exploring the emotions of love and lust alongside the politics of sex and personal experiences.
This new edition has been updated to include more on trans histories and sexual identities in the context of the recent multiplication of sexual and gender identities. It also brings in more on materialism, embodiment, and the history of emotion. In addition to the new chapter on imperialism from the second edition, the third edition now includes an additional chapter on early medieval Christianity and Islam, concentrating on the tensions between mysticism and regulation. The book concludes with a new chapter that explores how activists from the 1970s onward linked sexual pleasure to bodily care, particularly in the contexts of abortion, AIDS, and gender-affirming trans healthcare.
Drawing on a rich array of sources, including poetry, novels, pornography, and film, as well as court records, autobiographies, and personal letters, and written in a lively, engaging style, Desire remains an essential resource for scholars and students of the history of European sexuality, as well as women's and gender history, social and cultural history, and LGBTQ history.
Reviews / Votes
"This new edition of Anna Clark's landmark text Desire remains both authoritative and innovative, creatively deploying her concept of "twilight moments" to think through transgression, possibility, regulation, opportunity, and the complexity of human life across two millennia with nuance and sensitivity."Justin Bengry Visiting Senior Research Fellow, King's College London
"With new and thoughtful updates, Anna Clark's Desire remains one of the most important and indispensable histories of sexuality yet written. Beautifully written, it is a joy to read, and remains an urgent piece of historical research."
Eleanor Janega, Guest Teacher, Department of International History, LSE
More details
Edition
3rd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Undergraduate Advanced
Illustrations
15 s/w Abbildungen, 15 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder
15 Halftones, black and white; 15 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
420 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-96152-1 (9781032961521)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 07/2026
3rd Edition
Routledge
€52.50
Not yet published
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
3rd Edition
Routledge
€54.99
Not yet available
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
3rd Edition
Routledge
€54.99
Not yet available
Previous edition

Book
04/2019
2nd Edition
Routledge
€193.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Anna Clark is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. Her most recent book is Alternative Histories of the Self: A Cultural History of Sexuality and Secrets (2017). She has also published Women's Silence, Men's Violence: Sexual Assault in Britain, 1780-1845 (1987), The Struggle for the Breeches: Gender and the Making of the British Working Class (1995), and Scandal: The Sexual Politics of the British Constitution (2003).
Content
1. Introduction: Sexuality and the problem of Western civilization 2. Sex and the city: Greece and Rome 3. Divine desire in ancient Judaism and the beginnings of Christianity 4. Desire in the early Middle Ages, 600-1200 CE: mysticism and regulation 5. From twilight moments to moral panics: the regulation of sex from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century 6. Sexual contact and culture clash in Spain and colonial Mesoamerica 7. Enlightening desire: new attitudes toward sexuality in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 8. In the Victorian twilight. sex out of wedlock, sexual commerce, and same-sex desire, 1750-1870 9. Boundaries of the nation, boundaries of the self, 1860-1914
Chapter 10. Sex and imperialism, 1857-1939 11. Managing desire or consuming sex in interwar culture 12. Sex and the state in the 1930s: Sweden, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany 13. The reconstruction of desire and sexual consumerism in postwar Europe 14. Sexual citizenship and sexual nationalism in times of crisis
Chapter 10. Sex and imperialism, 1857-1939 11. Managing desire or consuming sex in interwar culture 12. Sex and the state in the 1930s: Sweden, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany 13. The reconstruction of desire and sexual consumerism in postwar Europe 14. Sexual citizenship and sexual nationalism in times of crisis