The University of Chicago Press There are many who want to understand what our current perceptions and awareness of human sexuality means. This book, which chronicles the conceptualization and the development of Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia sexualis, will help. Using Krafft-Ebing’s archives, patient autobiographies, and case studies the author builds a case for Krafft-Ebing doing far more than simply creating a medicalized, controlling dogma about human sexuality. In fact, by describing and cataloging personal sexual perversions, Krafft-Ebing opened the way to understanding them sympathetically and with greater acceptance than had been the case before him. It is likely that without this early opening to a more restrained and descriptive discussion the contemporary cultural understanding of sexuality would not have developed as it has. While some have harshly criticized Krafft-Ebing for forcing human sexuality into a psychiatric, medical prison, that is not the stance in this book. It allows for a detailed and richly textured perception of human sexuality including Krafft-Ebing’s seminal work. It is to be read with benefit by any serious student of human sexuality. Reviewed by Ralph Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies.
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