The Victorians in the Harem

Richard Manton is well known for his compilations of extracts from Victorian erotic literature, and often also for confusing (even dubious) re-issuing of some of the original works under duplicate titles. This book is one of his best efforts, and in it he draws together the parts of this body of literature that relates to slavery and particularly harems, whether in the USA, UK or the Near-East. He shows that writings in this part of the genre, although still generated with erotic intent, can give clues about such aspects of life that complement the known facts, fleshing out the bare bones of history. Most of the book seems to be written by Manton, with illustrative extracts from the literature which, for once, complement rather than dominate the narrative. Several sources add to this study, and the result manages to be quite erotic itself, although also scholarly in perhaps a lightweight manner. Definitely outside the normal run of Grove Press titles that ably represented this genre in the 1980s.