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Wolfenden's Witnesses: Homosexuality in Postwar Britain 1st ed. 2016


Wolfenden's Witnesses: Homosexuality in Postwar Britain 1st ed. 2016

Paperback by Lewis, Brian

Wolfenden's Witnesses: Homosexuality in Postwar Britain

£24.99

ISBN:
9781137321480
Publication Date:
18 Feb 2016
Edition/language:
1st ed. 2016 / English
Publisher:
Palgrave Macmillan
Pages:
316 pages
Format:
Paperback
For delivery:
Estimated despatch 28 May - 2 Jun 2024
Wolfenden's Witnesses: Homosexuality in Postwar Britain

Description

The Wolfenden Report of 1957 has long been recognized as a landmark in moves towards gay law reform. What is less well known is that the testimonials and written statements of the witnesses before the Wolfenden Committee provide by far the most complete and extensive array of perspectives we have on how homosexuality was understood in mid-twentieth century Britain. Those giving evidence, individually or through their professional associations, included a broad cross-section of official, professional and bureaucratic Britain: police chiefs, policemen, magistrates, judges, lawyers and Home Office civil servants; doctors, biologists (including Alfred Kinsey), psychiatrists, psychoanalysts and psychotherapists; prison governors, medical officers and probation officers; representatives of the churches, morality councils and progressive and ethical societies; approved school headteachers and youth organization leaders; representatives of the army, navy and air force; and a small handful of self-described but largely anonymous homosexuals. This volume presents an annotated selection of their voices.

Contents

Note on Style PART I: INTRODUCTION PART II: THE WITNESSES 1. Law Enforcers 2. Medical Practitioners and Scientists 3. Homosexuals 4. Christians, Moralists and Reformers PART III: THE WOLFENDEN REPORT

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