Sex Before the Sexual Revolution

1. Introduction
Part I. What was Sex?
2. The facts of life: learning about sex in childhood and youth
3. Sexual intimacies before marriage
Part II. What was Love?
4. Romance and love: finding a partner
5. Married love: caring and sharing
Part III. Exploring Sex and Love in Marriage
6. Birth control, sex and abstinence
7. Bodies
8. Sex, love, duty, pleasure?
9. The morning after
10. Conclusion

Szreter, Simon
Simon Szreter is Reader in History and Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. His previous publications include Fertility, Class and Gender in Britain 1860-1940 (Cambridge University Press, 1996) and Changing Family Size in England and Wales 1891-1911: Place, Class and Demography (co-editor, Cambridge University Press, 2001). In 2009 he was awarded the Viseltear Prize of the American Public Health Association for contributions to the history of public health. He is also a founding member of the History and Policy Network.

Fisher, Kate
Kate Fisher is Senior Lecturer in History, University of Exeter. Her highly acclaimed first book, Birth Control, Sex and Marriage in Britain, 1918-1960 (2006), won national and international awards including the RHS Whitfield Prize. In 2007 she was shortlisted for Times Higher Academic Author of the Year Award.

'A warm and enjoyable read, at times heartbreaking and at others erotic, its appeal goes beyond its value as an academic text. It is an impressive venture that captures what otherwise might have remained a forgotten part of our sexual history.' Petra Boynton, Times Higher Education 'I can scarcely recall reading a book which gives a richer, more comprehensive - and ultimately, more deeply moving - account of the human experience.' Simon Callow, The Guardian, in which Sex Before the Sexual Revolution was selected as 'Book of the Week' 'A brilliant new book ... based on the intimate experiences of people from the middle and working classes whose adolescence, marriage and childrearing took place during and after the period between the two world wars ... provides a glimpse into an era when sex was not spoken about.' The Daily Express 'A peek through the curtains of the pre-Sixties bedroom, this convincing and gripping social history provides undeniable evidence that sex did not start in the Sixties.' Oliver James '... an exciting, pioneering study ... Szreter and Fisher advance a refreshingly candid account of English sex, love, and marriage and present the fascinating oral history material to its best advantage. In short, this is an excellent book which deserves to attract a very large readership.' Angus McLaren, Emeritus Professor, University of Victoria 'A surprising number of people think that Philip Larkin was right and the British didn't discover sex until the 1960s ... This book goes further than any other in breaking the silence and presenting middle and working class people who married between the 1930s and 1950s talking frankly about their sexual experience, revealing that sexual intercourse really did happen before 1963 - and some people even enjoyed it.' Pat Thane, Director, Centre for Contemporary British History, Institute of Historical Research 'A work of deeply engaging and distinguished scholarship, based on fascinating interviews and other primary