Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts

The history of selling sex is a hidden one - its practitioners are a 'damnable crew' pushed to the margins of history. This book redresses the balance, revealing the history of the sex trade through the eyes of the sex worker, from medieval back street to Wild West saloon, and from seedy brothel to state bedroom. These enthralling tales are brought to life by Kate Lister's witty and authoritative text, and illuminated by a rich archive of photographs, artworks and objects. The chapters are structured thematically in broadly chronological order, each one introducing a lively cast of complex and entertaining characters operating in an array of different periods, locations and settings. In Ancient Mesopotamia the harlot Shamhat was powerful and respected, able to civilize the wild man Enkidu through her charms. In medieval London Elizabeth Moryng serviced religious clergy under the guise of an embroidery business, though was eventually jailed for being a prolific procuress and bawd. In Renaissance Venice the courtesan Veronica Franco published her poetry, rubbed shoulders with royalty and founded a charity for other courtesans. In the hedonistic floating world of Edo, Japan, kabuki actresses and then geishas entertained and pleasured their patrons. Three men were hanged in 18th-century London for buggery after being found in the Molly House of Margaret Clap. And at the turn of the century, in New Orleans, Lulu White ran Mahogany Hall, a four-storey building that housed up to forty sex workers. Lister's engaging and illuminating tales invite readers to look, listen and reconsider everything they thought they knew about the world's oldest profession.