Encompassing prehistory to the twenty-first century, this two-volume collection features a wide array of sources from religious, legal, and medical texts to poetry, novels, sex manuals, plays, art, and photographs, drawn from every continent, to explore human sexuality across time. In Volume One, historian Mathew Kuefler delves into the eras from prehistory to the sixteenth century, touching upon themes including patriarchy, gender diversity, sexual norms in religious and medical traditions, and perceptions of sexual “others.” Volume Two focuses on the modern period, addressing topics such as sexual thought among puritans and libertines, scientific influences, censorship, and sexuality as self-expression and liberation. Each volume is structured around thematic chapters, with twenty sources per chapter and five chapters per volume, allowing for use in both chronological and thematic teaching. This collection is ideal for courses in the history of sexuality or world history, gender and women’s studies, sociology, or cultural studies. The Global History of Sexuality Sourcebook emphasizes both the universal aspects of human sexuality and the particularities of individual and cultural experience, challenging students and readers to think critically about how sexual norms, identities, and practices have been shaped across time and place.
