From the first serious sex study ever undertaken (in France in 1830 with a group of prostitutes) to the latterday work of Masters and Johnson, this book traces the history of more than a century of sex research. Bullough addresses the difficulties and controversies in an area of research that has never been allowed to fully control its own agenda.

Using examples, he describes the forces that have impinged serious research, from free love hippies and religious zealots to governments trying to support stands on public morality.