Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to the Mid-Twentieth Century is a comprehensive and fascinating survey of the key figures in gay and lesbian history from classical times to the mid-twentieth century. Among those included are:
* Classical heroes - Achilles; Aeneas; Ganymede
* Literary giants - Sappho; Christopher Marlowe; Arthur Rimbaud; Oscar Wilde
* Royalty and politicians - Edward II; King James I; Horace Walpole; Michel de Montaigne.
Over the course of some 500 entries, expert contributors provide a complete and vivid picture of gay and lesbian life in the Western world throughout the ages.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Aldrich and Wotherspoon (history, Univ. of Sydney) are brave editors, as a "who's who" for gay studies might be seen as concretizing in an area in which the constructionist/essentialist debate is still a minefield. Nevertheless, they provide an articulate rationale for this book in their introduction. In addition to justifying the "who's who" approach in general at a time when social history moves the focus to "unknown" people, they seek to include anyone of significance in the history of sexual minorities without any limits based on what the subjects did in bed. Well over 100 contributors have written the 500 entries, which range from Sappho to Andr? Gide; most entries are accompanied by a bibliography. This is a scholarly alternative to more celebratory or localized works such as Paul Elliott Russell's The Gay 100 (Citadel, 1996). Along with the companion volume, Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History, also edited by Aldrich and Wotherspoon, it belongs in every library concerned with world history. David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

The editors of these related titles, acknowledging the pitfalls of labeling or categorizing people, especially historically or cross-culturally, chose to focus on individuals from Western countries (for the most part in Europe and North America), countries colonized by the West (for the most part in South America and southern Africa), and Australia and New Zealand. They also include people considered "significant in the history of homosexuality"; hence the contemporary volume includes entries for Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, for their antigay stances, and the late Princess Diana, for her AIDS activism. Finally, they did not attempt to achieve parity between genders, since much more information is available for men than women, particularly historically.Each volume contains entries, written by over 100 international contributors, about some 500 individuals representing a wide variety of fields--e.g., activism, literature, entertainment, sports, art, science, religion, academia. Alphabetically arranged entries provide background information (names, dates, nationality, fields of endeavor) and sometimes race and ethnicity. They focus on important events, influences, and contributions of entrants with some brief social, cultural, and historical context. The articles are roughly 200-800 words long, are generally well written, and conclude with a list of references. Like many other who's who titles, neither volume has an index, making it difficult to find information about events, organizations, and publications mentioned in entries unless the names of the persons associated with them are known in advance. Nor are appendixes provided that group entrants by nationality or occupation--useful features for class assignments. Nevertheless, these titles contribute significantly to gay, lesbian, and bisexual studies and offer entries for more people and geographical locations than Paul Russell's The Gay 100 (1995) or the highly regarded Gay and Lesbian Biography, ed. by Michael J. Tyrkus (1997). Recommended for academic, large public, and high school libraries. L. Krikos Ohio State University