Rape: A History From 1860 To The Present

Joanna Bourke, author of the critically-acclaimed Fear, unflinchingly and controversially moves away from looking at victims to look at the rapists. She examines the nature of rape, drawing together the work of criminologists, sociologists and psychiatrists to analyse what drives the perpetrators of sexual violence.

Rape - A History looks at the perception of rape, both in the mass media and the wider public, and considers the crucial questions of treatment and punishment. Should sexual offenders be castrated Will Freud's couch or the behaviourists' laboratory work most effectively Particular groups of offenders such as female abusers, psychopaths and exhibitionists are given special attention here, as are potentially dangerous environments, including the home, prison, and the military. By demystifying the category of the rapist and revealing the specificities of the past, Joanna Bourke dares to consider a future in which sexual violence has been placed outside the human experience.

“Thought-provoking at every turn”

Academically rigorous . . . elegant, readable and gripping OBSERVER Launches a disciplined and chilling account . . . unflinching GUARDIAN INDEPENDENT 'This is a comprehensive survey of sexual criminality over the past 150 years . . . [it] is a thorough, intelligent, and balanced examination of a crime whose prevalence is only rising' Lionel Shriver, FT

Academically rigorous . . . elegant, readable and gripping - OBSERVER

Launches a disciplined and chilling account . . . unflinching - GUARDIAN

- INDEPENDENT

This is a comprehensive survey of sexual criminality over the past 150 years . . . [it] is a thorough, intelligent, and balanced examination of a crime whose prevalence is only rising - Lionel Shriver, FT

Joanna Bourke is a professor of history at Birkbeck College in London. Her book An Intimate History of Killing received critical acclaim, winning the Wolfson History Prize.

Joanna Bourke, author of the critically-acclaimed Fear, unflinchingly and controversially moves away from looking at victims to look at the rapists. She examines the nature of rape, drawing together the work of criminologists, sociologists and psychiatrists to analyse what drives the perpetrators of sexual violence. Rape - A History looks at the perception of rape, both in the mass media and the wider public, and considers the crucial questions of treatment and punishment. Should sexual offenders be castrated Will Freud's couch or the behaviourists' laboratory work most effectively Particular groups of offenders such as female abusers, psychopaths and exhibitionists are given special attention here, as are potentially dangerous environments, including the home, prison, and the military. By demystifying the category of the rapist and revealing the specificities of the past, Joanna Bourke dares to consider a future in which sexual violence has been placed outside the human experience.

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