Forthcoming Events for November

Historian H.G. Cocks Reads from:

NAMELESS OFFENCES: HOMOSEXUAL DESIRE IN THE 19TH CENTURY, and

CLASSIFIED: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE PERSONAL COLUMN

MONDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2009 AT 7PM

Nameless Offences
The Secret history of homosexual culture in Victorian England

What did the Victorians know about desire between men? Was it really 'the love that dare not speak its name'? Nameless Offences argues that even before Oscar Wilde and the rise of sexual science there was an open, public and concerted discussion of same-sex desire that went to the heart of Victorian notions of masculinity, class and identity.

'a breath of fresh air...a powerful contribution to the history of male homosexuality...and the cultural history of nineteenth-century Britain.' Matt Houlbrook.

Nameless Offences , by H.G. Cocks is £16.99 and published by I.B. Tauris.

Classified
Classified is a fascinating sideways look at the history of relationships in twentieth-century Britain, explored through the medium of the personal ad. From lonely clerks and typists desperate for love in the cities of 1920s England, through to the swingers of the 1960s and 1970s and the internet junkies of today, it shows how the personal ad has mirrored and encouraged seismic shifts in society and popular attitudes to relationships.

'a fascinating portrait of changing social mores, from Thirties pornography and Seventies wife-swapping through to modern internet dating.' - Mail on Sunday

Classified, by H.G. Cocks is £14.99 [HB] and published by Random House

H.G. Cocks is a lecturer in the School of History at the University of Manchester. His other publications include The Modern History of Sexuality. This is a free event...with refreshment provided and all are welcome