Some Men In London: Queer Life, 1945-1959

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In the 1940s, homosexuality was believed to be increasing in the aftermath of war. A moral panic ensued, centred around London as the place to which gay men gravitated. Homosexuality became a topic of fierce debate, from newspaper letters' pages to the House of Commons.In a major new anthology, Peter Parker explores what it was actually like for queer men in London in this period, whether they were famous figures 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, medical textbooks, novels, films and police records, covering a wide range of viewpoints, from those who deplored homosexuality to those who campaigned for its decriminalization.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.