From Florentine lesbian nuns to French cattle buggers Lascivious Bodies examines all sorts of sex, in all sorts of places, with all sorts of people. Drawing upon vivid firsthand material and private letters, Julie Peakman explores heterosexual behaviour, male and female homosexuality and more curious or abnormal activities, such as foot-fetishism, flagellation, necrophilia and cross-dressing. Lascivious Bodies is the definitive account of a period of diverse sexual pleasures, and how they have shaped the way we think about sex today.

'A jolly and Informative book, nicely produced... soundly researched and spiced with lurid details. Her descriptions bring a period of unbridled sexual appetite roaring to life.'-- Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times

'Oh my. Don't I get the julcy jobs?... Every [other] sexual diversion is on display, every taboo and curlosity... Peakman is an energetic researcher... Lascivious Bodies makes today's swingers look very tame.' -- Edwina Currie, New Statesman