Good, could have been much better.
I'm glad I read this book; it presented me with much interesting information with which I was previously unfamiliar. It is a shame that, by and large, it will be read by people who are already inclined to agree with the author's position on acceptance of homosexuality, and not by people who do not. Granted, not everyone who disagrees with that position does so out of ignorance, but I suspect that many do, and of that many, some would become more tolerant if they were to read this book. But for the most part, they won't, so for the most part, the author is "preaching to the choir".
There are a couple of reasons, though, why I only give this book three stars: for one thing, the writing gets a bit ponderous at times; this author makes the mistake of many historians, which is to confuse "a neutral tone" with removing all traces of personality or style from the writing. Those few historians who understand that it is possible to write about history objectively without doing so dully are a rare treasure; this author is not one of them. (As a side issue, and a minor one: there are a few more places where this book clearly needed a more competent proofreader than it had than I care for in a scholarly work, although fewer of them than I would accept as tolerable in a mass-market paperback novel without a quibble; phrases like "...the patrons was businessmen,..." show up periodically, and are distracting to the reader's inner grammarian.) Secondly, The author concentrates far more heavily than I care for on the Western European cultures that were psychotically homophobic; granted, he begins with ancient Greece & Rome, has a chapter on Japan & China, and mentions briefly that one of the things that condemned the native Americans in the eyes of the Europeans was their acceptance of homosexuality, but I would dearly have liked to have seen more about non-Western attitudes toward the subject; it was not news that the European Christian civilizations rabidly condemned it. What I found fascinating was the little information that WAS provided about contrasting attitudes.
It's definitely worth reading this book, if for no better reason than to be reminded of where we do NOT want society to return in its attitudes & behaviors, but there was just as definitely much room for improvement.
Looking at History
Crompton, Louis. "Homosexuality and Civilization", Belknap Press, 2006.
Looking at History
Amos Lassen
Louis Crompton gives us an encyclopedic survey of homosexuality in both western and non-western civilizations. What may seem like something of a dry read is actually extremely readable, interesting and a pleasure.
When Europeans first came to America they found men engaged in same sex relationships and this horrified many because of their puritanical religious beliefs. The same kinds of relationships were also found in China and Japan. As colonization became a stronger force in the world, the persecution of homosexuals began to be more common. Crompton looks at the men and women who made history either as immortals, celebrities or victims because they chose to love another of their own sex.
There are two chapters on China and Japan--areas which many have overlooked. He also shows the role of Judeo-Christian aversion and hate in the history of the world. Each and every chapter has a great deal of information culled from primary sources, many of which have not been used before and Crompton gives us a wonderful and scholarly look at the history of homosexuality and civilization. The book is a guided tour of history and it not only educates and entertains but also surprises and reassures. It is a look at the inner-workings of civilization itself as it grabs us and shows us our history until 19th century Europe went quite mad--more than 1500 years of history.
Crompton starts with the ancient Greeks and gives emphasis to Eastern history. The major theme is that while western civilization engaged itself in the persecution of homosexuals throughout history, Eastern civilization actually celebrated same-sex love. He chronicles the lives and both high and low points of homosexual men and women parallel to the history of persecution.
Crompton worked on this book for eighteen years concentrating on the cultural laws concerning homosexuality and in doing this he can show that the claims that homosexuality in certain cultures did not exist as false.
The book opens with early Greece and we learn of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus as well as of Greek poets, man-boy love and the importance of male physical beauty. Chapter Two looks at Judea and early Jewish customs and laws and the opposition to homosexuality. Here he debunks the myth that homosexuality was the reason for the destruction of Sodom and shows that the real reason was the lack of hospitality.
Classical Greece is the topic of Chapter Three and here we see homosexuality as not only considered natural but acclaimed. In Chapter four dealing with Rome we see that homosexuality was more constrained and that were regulations on sexual roles. Early Christians saw a change in and there was great persecution of homosexuals (Chapter Five). Crompton goes on to the medieval period in chapters six and seven and in Chapter Eight we get to Imperial China and see that homosexuality was a central concept of Chinese culture for 2000 years.
The Renaissance in Italy and homosexual love being more accepted in intellectual circles is detailed in Chapter Nine and the Inquisition is the focus of Chapter Ten. France and England are the next topics while the final chapter deals with ancient Japan.
The amount of research used by
Crompton is staggering--everything from historical documents, poetry, stories, histories, myths and teachings is used. This is a wonderful addition to our literature and an important book.
Therapy, nothing less
I don't know why it took me so long to find this book, but now that I have it, it has become the crowning jewel of my collection. It was so therapeutic for me that I cried and cried while reading what I had always suspected about the cruelties religions have perpetrated in the name of God. I am forever grateful to Professor Louis Crompton.
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