Kinky History: A Rollicking Journey through Our Sexual Past, Present, and Future

This book takes readers on a provocative journey through human sexual history, filled with fun facts and forgotten stories. Historian, storyteller, and author Esmé Louise James presents a unique perspective on our ancestors’ obscenities. It explores the first instances of homosexuality, the history of nonbinary gender, and hilarious and horrifying contraceptive methods. It also considers the impact of pornography on society and how our relationship to it changed during the pandemic.

James identifies key tipping points that inform current beliefs around sex, connecting the past to the present. By educating ourselves about human sexuality, we can normalize and destigmatize sex, write marginalized identities into history, and build a more liberated future.