Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State
'Prostitution and Victorian Society represents women's history at its most ambitious and effective. Walkowitz's discerning analysis of the Ladies National Association's ideas and strategies makes her book a very useful part of the political education of feminists of our own generation.' Ellen Ross, Signs'A picture of the complex mechanisms through which class, gender and sexualities are refracted and shaped. This is a major, pathbreaking achievement which will leave future historians deeply in Judith Walkowitz's debt.' Jeffrey Weeks, History Today' ... essential (and compelling) reading.' British Journal of Law and Society' ... a classic of social history, full of vivid experience bound together by a profound understanding of the social ideology and moral myth of Victorian England ... A work of impeccable scholarship; a parable for today; yes, both of these. But let the reviewer not founder in her own morality. This is also a book full of lusty life and exceptional characters.' Elizabeth Janeway, Los Angeles Times'Walkowitz reveals the complexity of the social, economic, moral, religious and political (including feminist) issues that were entwined in the CD controversy through a virtuoso analysis. Walkowitz exposes the void that still exists in the historical explanation of changes in ideas and policies on sexual and social relations of the sexes that have transpired since late Victorian times. The exposure is a worthy challenge to a social historian who can match Walkowitz's gifts in research and analysis.' The American Historical Review