Sex, crimes and misdemeanours

A history of sex and the courts. From a starting point in the 19th century the book examines the variety of cases concerning sex, placing various laws in the social context of the period, exploring what has at differing times been considered criminal (no Incest Act existed before 1908).

From bestiality, prostitution, homosexuality and child sex abuse to allegations of satanism in ritual child abuse, this book surveys the big cases which have changed the law or helped change social perceptions, as well as some minor but astonishing ones.