An alternative narrative of modern German history from the late Enlightenment to the present, which focuses on sexuality and what this subject reveals about German life more broadly.

Sexuality in Modern German History offers both a detailed survey of this key subject and a new intervention in the history of sexuality in modern Germany. It investigates the diverse and often contradictory ways in which individuals, activists, doctors, politicians, artists, church leaders, reform movements and cultural commentators have defined ‘normal’ or ‘natural’ sexuality in Germany over the past two centuries. Katie Sutton explores how these definitions have been used to shape identities, behaviours, bodies and practices, from norms of heterosexual, marital, reproductive sex to ideas around the policing and categorisation of ‘unnatural’ or ‘deviant’ bodies and practices. Covering a range of crucial themes, including birth control, prostitution, queer and trans rights and heterosexual intimacy, this important text comes with 30 illustrations and a wealth of primary source extracts and secondary literature, helpfully integrated to enable further insight and analysis. This is a vital volume for all students and scholars with an interested in modern Germany or the history of sexuality in modern Europe.

"This fascinating, authoritative study places topical debates into historical context, revealing the multifaceted nature of modernities and the shifting, heterogeneous nature of past sexualities and the moral norms that shaped them. Foregrounding questions of conformity and resistance, the book sheds light on the hotly-contested debates over gender and sexual identities that confront contemporary scholars." - Ingrid Sharp, Professor of German Cultural and Gender History, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

"Katie Sutton’s Sexuality in Modern German History deftly weaves the important topics in the history of modern sexuality—mariage, prostitution, homosexuality, and trans identities—with the turns in German history, from the early nineteenth to the early twenty-first centuries. An invaluable resurce for beginning students as well as established scholars!" - Robert Deam Tobin, Henry J Leir Chair Professor of Comparative Literature, Clark University, USA