Winner of the 2015 Randy Shilts Award
“Excellent and richly documented. . . . The significance of Beachy’s book goes beyond his findings on the German roots of the conclusion that homosexuality is a biologically fixed trait. Beachy’s work must also be considered in the larger context of a shift in cultural studies.” –V.R. Berghahn, New York Times Book Review
“Beachy’s cultivation of the ‘other’ Germany, heterogeneous and progressive, is especially welcome. . . . At the same time, Beachy enlarges our understanding of how the international gay-rights movement eventually prospered, despite the setbacks that it experienced not only in Nazi Germany but also in mid-century America.” –Alex Ross, The New Yorker
“An elucidating, somewhat startling study of how early German tolerance and liberalism encouraged homosexual expression. . . . A brave new work of compelling research.” –Kirkus
“This lucidly written narrative includes enough spice (accounts of scandals, secret identities, and crimes) to draw in a general readership. However, Beachy’s deeply researched, carefully structured book is foremost an impressive piece of scholarship.” –Publishers Weekly (starred)
“A superb work of historical reclamation–by far the best account we have of the formative years of homosexual identity and emancipation, it is brilliantly researched and beautifully written.” –Martin Duberman, Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, CUNY
