G. L. Simons

I avoided reading this work because "at first blush", it was clearly being marketed with an appeal to the bizarre, the extremes, and to "delectation". In fact, however, the author presents scientifically-documented material in a gracious and sympathetic manner, with maturity and without prurience.

In eight chapters: (1) Animals and Plants, (2) Human Physiology, (3) Sex Technique, Performance and Response, (4) Deviant Sexuality, (5) Prudery, Supersitition, and Law, (6) Sexology and Sex Education, (7) Con(tra)cemption and Castration, (8) the Arts. The References for each Chapter are listed in a final section, and the authorities are both specifically cited (to the page), and of high scientific quality.

The Index is unique for having Topics broken down to sub-topics, but absolutely no Persons. For example no "Origen", although he is noted in several locations for his self-castration and the prudery of his scholarship.(! )

The author goes to the trouble of including examples across the global and temporal spectrum, citing Judaism, Islamicists, Christians, and Trobriand Islanders (Malinowski).

For example, contemporaries may no longer appreciate the Judaic phallus worship of Jacob [117], or the fact that masterbation was a capital offense, and if a woman "touched" the male member, her arm would be cut off. Islam long cultivated and repeated the unscientific view that sex with an older woman is harmful to a man. And the Koreh would bury girls alive [123]. The virulent woman-hatred of Catholicism is revealed in numerous examples -- the "trumpetings against women" [343, actually has its own category in the Vatican Index!], and in the many witch persecutions. Burning widows is still practiced in India, and clitorectomy is widespread in Islamic Africa.

The author notes that the most vulnerable victims of sex crimes are...children. [362]. He points out that "it is difficult to comprehend why rape, while so common, is so little studied" [367].

Please note - this work was published and republished since 1975, in England. Little has changed.… (altro)

Geoff Simons profiles the appalling human-rights record of modern Indonesia, against a history of the country. Brutal repression, the unjust legal system and corrupt nepotism are described, with attention to the independence struggles of the East Timorese and West Papuans. The historical survey includes the anti-colonialist campaign, the role of Sukarno as first president, the Suharto decades, the 1998 appointment of Habibie as third president and the social chaos caused by economic collapse. It also describes how the United States and Britain plotted anti-Sukarno coups, supported 1960s massacres, and protected the despotic Suharto regime.

GEOFF SIMONS has written wide range of successful books in various subject areas. His work has been translated into a dozen languages and many of his titles appear on university reading lists. Now a freelance author, he was formerly chief editor and managing editor in a major publishing company. He is the author of many highly acclaimed books, including: Libya: The Struggle for Survival, Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam, The United Nations: A Chronology of Conflict, Cuba: from Conquistador to Castro, UN Malaise: Power Problems and Realpolitic, Vietnam Syndrome: Impact on US Foreign Policy and Saudi Arabia.… (altro)