Some Men In London

Queer Life, 1945-1959

Peter Parker

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Hardback

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English

Penguin Classics
27 August 2024

Literary essays; Anthologies (non-poetry); British & Irish history; Social & cultural history; Society & Social Sciences; Gay & Lesbian studies

The 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.

By: Peter Parker
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 242mm, Width: 160mm, Spine: 40mm
Weight: 689g
ISBN: 9780241370605
ISBN 10: 0241370604
Pages: 464
Publication Date: 27 August 2024
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Peter 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.

Reviews for Some Men In London: Queer Life, 1945-1959

Quite simply, this book is a work of genius -- Matthew Parris * The Spectator * These beautifully written letters, diary entries and extracts from novels, skilfully edited by Peter Parker, add up to an essential study of postwar gay London life… Some Men in London's second volume, which takes us up to 1967, will be published in September. I'll be counting the days - this is one of the best anthologies I have ever read -- John Self * The Observer * With it’s wide-ranging selection, generous biographical notes and provocative bibliography, Some Men in London is a serious and important contribution to our understanding of Britain up to today -- Fiona Sampson * The Tablet * An intriguing collage of the era’s mood -- Robbie Millen * The Times *