{"product_id":"some-men-in-london-queer-life-1960-1967-9780241683712","title":"Some Men In London: Queer Life, 1960-1967","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe second in a major two-part anthology uncovering the rich reality of life for queer men in London, from the end of the Second World War to decriminalization in 1967  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.  Peter Parker's fascinating new compendium explores what it was actually like for queer men in London in this period, whether they were well-known figures such as Francis Bacon, Joe Orton and Kenneth Williams, 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 second volume, from 1960 to 1967, shows how key elements in British society gradually changed their views on homosexuality, resulting in the landmark 1967 act by which it was no longer considered a crime if it took place between adults in private. This did not end violence, discrimination and prejudice, but it at least curbed official persecution. Some Men in London is a testament to queer life and its thriving, joyous subculture - a subculture without which the 1960s would have been immeasurably impoverished.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9780241683712\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 08 Sep 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Penguin Books Ltd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 19.7(H)x12.9(L)x2.5(W)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): \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\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\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\u003ePeter Parker has done a \u003cb\u003ebona job\u003c\/b\u003e across his two volumes of \u003ci\u003eSome Men in London \u003c\/i\u003ein chronicling queer life... [he creates] \u003cb\u003ea collage of the gay experience – sleazy, earnest and everything in between\u003c\/b\u003e... this latest volume almost has a \u003cb\u003ebounce of optimism, of the possibility of change\u003c\/b\u003e... \u003cb\u003ecan we have another volume?\u003c\/b\u003e -- Robbie Millen * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e[A] comprehensive two-volume anthology \u003c\/b\u003e[...] Peter Parker, distinguished author of several related biographies and historical studies,\u003cb\u003e has assembled a remarkable range of materials \u003c\/b\u003ecovering all aspects of this phenomenon, spanning VE Day and the passing of the Sexual Offences Act in 1967 [...] \u003cb\u003eParker adds drily witty commentary throughout\u003c\/b\u003e -- Rupert Christiansen * The Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eExtraordinary… fascinating\u003c\/b\u003e * Alan Hollinghurst *\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\u003e- - \u003cb\u003ePraise for Volume One\u003c\/b\u003e -- -\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eQuite simply, this book is a work of genius\u003c\/b\u003e -- Matthew Parris * The Spectator *","brand":"Peter Parker","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49241061163225,"sku":"9780241683712","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/some-men-in-london-queer-life-1960-1967-9780241683712","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}