Fabulously illustrated, this is the only book to provide a complete overview of the long history out of which today’s rich and varied gay culture has emerged. Historians from nine countries consider the evidence for same-sex relationships throughout the centuries, charting shifting attitudes towards homosexuality and the gradual emergence of a concept of self-identity.

For thousands of years, men and women have felt a desire for emotional and physical intimacy with those of their own sex. Their story, for many years forgotten, erased, ignored or rewritten, has in recent years become the focus of an extraordinary outpouring of research. Completely new avenues of inquiry have opened up and old assumptions have been challenged. Gay Life and Culture draws upon these findings to present a lively and thought-provoking account of what, until recently, could have been termed a ‘secret history’.

From ancient Greece and Rome right up to the present day with its issues of gay rights, AIDS and civil partnerships, this book also considers same-sex relationships in non-Western cultures, through history and across the globe. From homoerotic Persian poetry to tales of cross-dressing women in 18th-century Italy, from the wild, hedonistic delights of between-the-wars Berlin to concepts of a third gender in Asia and Native North America – all are discussed and recounted from memoirs, letters, archives, and works of art and literature.