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david_reads_books's review against another edition
3.0
A short-length, small book with art pieces from the British Museum depicting gay culture through history. Nice concise write-ups about each piece as you go through the book, which arranges them chronologically. Definitely unequal time spent on each of the L-G-B-T themes.
Not big enough to be a coffee table book, is the only amendment I'd make to Charlie's review on GR below:
Scanning some previous reviews, I found one that captured my thoughts incredibly well, by Charlie:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2874206558
I'll copy/paste Charlie's review here (I hope that's OK Charlie)
A Little Gay History is a succinct introduction to the history of global same-sex desire, explored through the lens of objects in the British Museum. The bulk of the book is various artifact profiles from 9000 BC to 1997, discussing their features, meaning, and culture context. An archaeologist specializing in one of these eras/cultures might find it rudimentary but this book is not called A Dissertation On Same-Sex Desire In The Han Dynasty, it’s A Little Gay History, and I’m not an archaeologist. It was a quick and accessible read would be a wonderful coffee table book if my new apartment had a coffee table.
Two minor quibbles:
• The introduction could have done more to explain how gender nonconformity and same-sex desire and sex acts have merged and shifted into contemporary gay identity (think Halperin’s "How to Do the History of Male Homosexuality"); the front cover says "gay" but the introduction claims to cover gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender history. I can see where it is coming from but without additional context the book seems (and is, to an extent) disproportionately weighted towards gay male history. Which would be a fine project but not what the book purports to pursue.
• All of the artifacts are from the British Museum, and I think partially as a result the book is very light on non-ancient Egyptian African and Latin American gay history.
Not big enough to be a coffee table book, is the only amendment I'd make to Charlie's review on GR below:
Scanning some previous reviews, I found one that captured my thoughts incredibly well, by Charlie:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2874206558
I'll copy/paste Charlie's review here (I hope that's OK Charlie)
A Little Gay History is a succinct introduction to the history of global same-sex desire, explored through the lens of objects in the British Museum. The bulk of the book is various artifact profiles from 9000 BC to 1997, discussing their features, meaning, and culture context. An archaeologist specializing in one of these eras/cultures might find it rudimentary but this book is not called A Dissertation On Same-Sex Desire In The Han Dynasty, it’s A Little Gay History, and I’m not an archaeologist. It was a quick and accessible read would be a wonderful coffee table book if my new apartment had a coffee table.
Two minor quibbles:
• The introduction could have done more to explain how gender nonconformity and same-sex desire and sex acts have merged and shifted into contemporary gay identity (think Halperin’s "How to Do the History of Male Homosexuality"); the front cover says "gay" but the introduction claims to cover gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender history. I can see where it is coming from but without additional context the book seems (and is, to an extent) disproportionately weighted towards gay male history. Which would be a fine project but not what the book purports to pursue.
• All of the artifacts are from the British Museum, and I think partially as a result the book is very light on non-ancient Egyptian African and Latin American gay history.
thereadingcat's review
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
This is a nice little book that you can read in 1 hour to learn about some of the most important LGBTQ+ histories in the world. It was a very pleasant reading as the author tries to relay information in a very informative, critical, yet also appealing and understanding. It is also empowering, knowing the love story and desire of millions of people before us who, in the end, still choose to live their truth. As the author said, history does not belong only to the "mainstreams," it belongs to all of us, and no one group can impose what is normal or acceptable. It was also fascinating to learn how colonisation and the British imperialism, along with Christian ideaology, influences so much of the concurring negative attitude we see today. The chapter on treatments of the Native Americans were specifically horrifying, and one could only wonder if the colonisers had ever consider the destructive legacies that they had left, which had far-reaching consequences.
That being said, the book is intended as more of an intro and anyone interested in deeper stories can find the resources reccomended by the author. It was not too transformative but still very informative and insightful.
That being said, the book is intended as more of an intro and anyone interested in deeper stories can find the resources reccomended by the author. It was not too transformative but still very informative and insightful.
elmcdonough's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.0
It is at it says "A Little Gay History," it shows a collection of small tidbits of queer history, with the largest focus on gay male history. A good starting point for someone interested in learning more about gay history, but it didn't dive quite deep enough or diverse enough for to give it a 5 star in my books (keeping in mind it was written in 2013, so the way we approach queer history, specifically gender identity has changed in 2021). I would recommend it for someone looking for a quick read of a few different areas of gay history-- good to start an interest in a historical figure or artifact that could be researched further on your own.
franka's review against another edition
3.0
A very interesting read. Unfortunately it was very short and while the book touched a lot of topics I would have liked it to have more detailed information. Although many topics were only lightly explained i love that this book shone light on a part of history often forgotten or ignored. And it also inspired me to look deeper into historical periods and how society dealt with lgbt people there.