This is a book about the making and unmaking of sex over the centuries. It tells the astonishing story of sex in the West from the ancients to the moderns in a precise account of developments in reproductive anatomy and physiology. We cannot fail to recognize the players in Thomas Laqueur’s story—the human sexual organs and pleasures, food, blood, semen, egg, sperm—but we will be amazed at the plots into which they have been woven by scientists, political activists, literary figures, and t...

The new edition of this popular book is reorganized to present pairs of contrasting views on what it means to be a man in contemporary Western culture. Addressing such issues as sex differences, fatherhood, intimacy, homosexuality, and oppression; the collection also includes new discussions of paternity, pornography, mixed-race marriage, impotence, and violence. Rethinking Masculinity is an excellent text for gender studies, ethics, and social philosophy courses.

**"It is difficult to think of many other books that are at once so brilliant, so wonderfully entertaining, and so moving . . . The Dog’s Gaze is full of exuberant insights about our canine friends, about art, and about the human condition." —Stephen Greenblatt“A splendid blend of histories: natural, cultural, and artistic . . . A delight for dog-loving art connoisseurs, and vice versa.” —Kirkus (starred review)From award-winning cultural historian, an enl...

What do dogs do in art? A dazzlingly original cultural history from the Cundill Prize-winning historianLong before the phrase ‘man’s best friend’ became common parlance, dogs were already standing beside us in art as in life. In The Dog’s Gaze, the historian Thomas W. Laqueur invites us to explore why they feature more than any other animal in the ways in which we picture ourselves and our stories.Dogs have been ubiquitous in the ...

The meaning of our concern for mortal remains—from antiquity through the twentieth centuryThe Greek philosopher Diogenes said that when he died his body should be tossed over the city walls for beasts to scavenge. Why should he or anyone else care what became of his corpse? In The Work of the Dead, acclaimed cultural historian Thomas Laqueur examines why humanity has universally rejected Diogenes's argument. No culture has been indifferent to mortal remain...

Sesso solitario è la storia di come nei secoli l'essere umano abbia concepito, praticato, narrato, stigmatizzato, medicalizzato l'autoerotismo. È la testimonianza delle spinte emancipatrici e delle azioni censorie scatenate da questa pratica creativa e liberamente fisiologica, ma non esente da complessità psicologiche. Consigliata da Galeno come rimedio medico, rubricata tra i peccati minori dai predicatori medievali, promossa a disputa filologica dai cabalisti, è paradossalmente proprio d...

**"It is difficult to think of many other books that are at once so brilliant, so wonderfully entertaining, and so moving . . . The Dog’s Gaze is full of exuberant insights about our canine friends, about art, and about the human condition." —Stephen Greenblatt“A splendid blend of histories: natural, cultural, and artistic . . . A delight for dog-loving art connoisseurs, and vice versa.” —Kirkus (starred review)From award-winning cultural historian, an enl...

Sexo solitario es la primera historia cultural de la práctica sexual más usual y extendida: la masturbación. Cuando casi todos los hábitos y las experiencias sexuales cuentan con defensores públicos y a menudo forman parte de las primeras planas de las noticias, la más frecuente de esas prácticas todavía resulta vergonzosa, incómoda e incluso radical cuando es admitida abiertamente.Thomas W. Laqueur revela cómo y por qué este modesto y alguna vez oscuro med...

An expert on terrorism and an expert on counterterrorism answer the two questions everyone is asking about the rise of terrorism today: why is this happening, and when will it end?Since the death of bin Laden in 2011, ISIS has risen, al-Qaeda has expanded its reach, and right-wing extremists have surged in the United States for the same simple reason: terrorism works. It's not caused by psychosis or irrationality, as the media often suggests. Instead, it's terrifyingly logical. Viol...

• In Brussels in 2004, more than 55 percent of the children born were of immigrant parents• Half of all female scientists in Germany are childless• According to a poll in 2005, more than 40 percent of British Muslims said Jews were a legitimate target for terrorist attacksWhat happens when a falling birthrate collides with uncontrolled immigration? The Last Days of Europe explores how a massive influx from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East has loaded Europe wi...

Michael Ignatieff draws on his extensive experience as a writer and commentator on world affairs to present a penetrating account of the successes, failures, and prospects of the human rights revolution. Since the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, this revolution has brought the world moral progress and broken the nation-state's monopoly on the conduct of international affairs. But it has also faced challenges. Ignatieff argues that human rights acti...

There is no question that tensions between Russia and American are on the rise. The forced annexation of Crimea, the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, and the Russian government's treatment of homosexuals have created diplomatic standoffs and led to a volley of economic sanctions. Much of the blame for Russia's recent hostility towards the West has fallen on steely-eyed President Vladimir Putin and Americans have begun to wonder if they are witnessing the rebirth of Cold War-style di...