{"product_id":"9781419730993","title":"Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day","description":"\u003cp\u003ePeter Ackroyd is our preeminent chronicler of London. In \u003ci\u003eQueer City\u003c\/i\u003e, he looks at the metropolis in a whole new way – through the history and experiences of its gay population. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Roman Londinium the penis was worshipped and homosexuality was considered admirable. The city was dotted with \u003ci\u003elupanaria\u003c\/i\u003e (‘wolf dens’ or public pleasure houses), \u003ci\u003efornices \u003c\/i\u003e(brothels) and \u003ci\u003ethermiae\u003c\/i\u003e (hot baths). Then came the Emperor Constantine, with his bishops and clergy, monks and missionaries. His rule was accompanied by the first laws against queer practices. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat followed was an endless loop of alternating permissiveness and censure, from the notorious Normans, whose military might depended on masculine loyalty, and the fashionable female transvestism of the 1620s; to the frenzy of executions for sodomy in the early 1800s and the ‘gay plague’ in the 1980s. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAckroyd takes us right into this hidden city, celebrating its diversity, thrills and energy on the one hand; but reminding us of its very real terrors, dangers and risks on the other. In a city of superlatives, it is perhaps this endless sexual fluidity and resilience that epitomise the real triumph of London.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Peter Ackroyd is the greatest living chronicler of London' \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Abrams Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47058199838960,"sku":"9781419730993","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781419730993_p0.jpg?v=1763781389","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781419730993","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}