{"product_id":"some-men-in-london-queer-life-1945-1959-9780241370612","title":"Some Men In London: Queer Life, 1945-1959","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe first part of a major new anthology which uncovers the rich reality of life for queer men in London  In the 1940s, it was believed that homosexuality had been becoming more widespread in the aftermath of war. A moral panic ensued, centred around London as the place to which gay men gravitated.  In a major new anthology, Peter Parker explores what it was actually like for queer men in London in this period, whether they were well-known figures such as John Gielgud, 'Chips' Channon and E.M. Forster, or living lives of quiet - or occasionally rowdy - anonymity in pubs, clubs, more public places of assignation, or at home. It is rich with letters, diaries, psychological textbooks, novels, films, plays and police records, covering a wide range of viewpoints, from those who deplored homosexuality to those who campaigned for its decriminalisation.  This first volume, from 1945 to 1959, details a community forced to live at constant risk of blackmail or prison. Yet it also shows a thriving and joyous subculture, one that enriched a mainstream culture often ignorant of its debt to gay creators. Some Men In London is a testament to queer life, which was always much more complex than newspapers, governments and the Metropolitan Police Force imagined.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9780241370612\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 25 Aug 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Penguin Books Ltd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 19.6(H)x12.8(L)x2.8(W)330\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 330\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003ePeter Parker is the author of biographies of J. R. Ackerley and Christopher Isherwood, The Old Lie, The Last Veteran, Housman Country and A Little Book of Latin for Gardeners. He edited A Reader's Guide to the Twentieth-Century Novel and Twentieth-Century Writers, is an advisory editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and contributed essays to Britten's Century and Fifty Gay and Lesbian Books Everybody Must Read. He has written about people, books, art, architecture and gardening for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, and lives in London's East End.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cb\u003eQuite simply, this book is a work of genius\u003c\/b\u003e -- Matthew Parris * The Spectator *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA monumental achievement\u003c\/b\u003e... an irresistibly immersive history.... no brief description can capture the\u003cb\u003e richness and variety\u003c\/b\u003e of this fabulous project... \u003cb\u003eBrilliantly compiled and wryly edited,\u003c\/b\u003e it's often a darkly funny book, infused with all the joy, tragedy, strangeness and frailty of human life. \u003cb\u003eI loved it.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eThese beautifully written letters, diary entries and extracts from novels, skilfully edited by Peter Parker, add up to \u003cb\u003ean essential study of postwar gay London life\u003c\/b\u003e… \u003ci\u003eSome Men in London\u003c\/i\u003e's second volume, which takes us up to 1967, will be published in September.\u003cb\u003e I'll be counting the days - this is one of the best anthologies I have ever read\u003c\/b\u003e -- John Self * The Observer *\u003cbr\u003eThis is an anthology with an \u003cb\u003eimmense amount to tell us\u003c\/b\u003e about its period, \u003cb\u003escrupulously sieved\u003c\/b\u003e, and just as much about our lives now... Peter Parker has assembled a\u003cb\u003e fascinating amount of written material\u003c\/b\u003e about the existence of homosexual men from 1945 until 1967... A wonderful range of extracts from outrageous pulp fiction makes\u003cb\u003e this substantial anthology unmissable\u003c\/b\u003e -- Philip Hensher * The Spectator *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSome Men in London \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eanimates mid-century gay life with panoramic, surround-sound effect\u003c\/b\u003e, while its collage-like form makes for easily digestible reading. \u003cb\u003eIf you think you already know this period, think again\u003c\/b\u003e.... \u003cb\u003ea magnificent history\u003c\/b\u003e of postwar gay life and moral panic... \u003cb\u003eThe rich cultural, political and social montage\u003c\/b\u003e that emerges is the combined result of Parker’s comprehensive grasp of the period and a process of \u003cb\u003emeticulous curation\u003c\/b\u003e -- Lucy Scholes * The FT *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSome Men in London \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003ehas the democratic, unpolemical quality of a social realist novel\u003c\/b\u003e. In its\u003cb\u003e sheer range of viewpoints and incidents\u003c\/b\u003e it shares something with the \u003cb\u003eroving perspective and multitudinous voices \u003c\/b\u003eof Henry Mayhew’s \u003ci\u003eLondon Labour and the London Poor \u003c\/i\u003e(1851). It is a\u003cb\u003e testament to Peter Parker’s skill as a compiler\u003c\/b\u003e – his ear for the peculiar and the archetypal alike – that gay life in these years, far from being a niche or rarefied thing, comes to feel like \u003cb\u003eits own epicentre, the beating heart of the city.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eAt times it feels more urgent and vibrant by far than life in the present\u003c\/b\u003e -- James Cahill * The TLS *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI’d heartily recommend \u003c\/b\u003ePeter Parker’s \u003ci\u003eSome Men of London\u003c\/i\u003e compendium of writings about homosexuality between the end of World War II and legalisation beginning in 1967... It makes for\u003cb\u003e riveting, startling, often horrifyingly comprehensive reading\u003c\/b\u003e -- Paul Flynn * Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003eWith it’s wide-ranging selection, generous biographical notes and provocative bibliography, \u003ci\u003eSome Men in London\u003c\/i\u003e is\u003cb\u003e a serious and important contribution to our understanding of Britain up to today\u003c\/b\u003e -- Fiona Sampson * The Tablet *\u003cbr\u003eAn \u003cb\u003eintriguing collage\u003c\/b\u003e of the era’s mood -- Robbie Millen * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs lively as a novel\u003c\/b\u003e... a \u003cb\u003etruly vital thing\u003c\/b\u003e in a world where so many stories have been erased or criminalised * Damien Barr *","brand":"Peter Parker","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49180367716569,"sku":"9780241370612","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9780241370612.jpg?v=1788354486","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/some-men-in-london-queer-life-1945-1959-9780241370612","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}