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What Is Love?
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What Is Love? Hardback - 1998

by Michael L. Bush; Richard Carlile; Michael L. Bush (Editor)

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A leading figure in early 19th-century radical London, Richard Carlile was a leading proponent of "free love", advocating not only honesty and equality for both sexes, but also advice and encouragement in the use of birth control. WHAT IS LOVE? is both a fascinating historical document and a piece of propaganda arguably as pertinent today as it was in the 1820s.

Reader reviews for What Is Love?

From the publisher

What is Love? provides a timely appreciation of Richard Carlile's neglected shocker, Every Woman's Book. Originally published in 1826, it scored a double first: as a progressive sex manual and as the first book in English to specify methods of contraception.

Carlile, a leading radical of the early nineteenth century, was notorious for his blend of republicanism, atheism and libertarianism. His book created a philosophy of sex which was found irresponsible and obscene at the time but today appears sensible and progressive. It proposed that sex was a right of adulthood rather then a marital privilege; that sexual satisfaction was necessary to a person's health and happiness; that sexual intercourse was a virtue and therefore a source of morality; and that men and women both had the same sexual needs and were therefore naturally equal.

Michael Bush provides a lucid and entertaining introduction to Carlile, a man opposed to alcohol and meat-eating but committed to the 'health-giving' properties of raw mercury, and who served ten years in prison for his beliefs, during which he organised an extensive following of fellow republicans and atheists. Bush's careful analysis of the personal and intellectual origins of Carlile's work and its impact do full justice to what is both a fascinating historical document and a key influence on society's acceptance of a liberal, sensualist view of sex.

Details

  • Title What Is Love?
  • Author Michael L. Bush; Richard Carlile; Michael L. Bush (Editor)
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 224
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Verso, London
  • Publication date 1998-09-17
  • Features Dust Cover, Index, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9781859848517 / 1859848516
  • Weight 0.85 lbs (0.39 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.84 x 5.65 x 0.86 in (19.91 x 14.35 x 2.18 cm)
  • Category Love / Sex / Marriage
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 98030215
  • Dewey Decimal Code 306.7

Media reviews

“A passionate protest against fear of the body; a radical challenge to ascetism; a celebration of the right to pleasure for a woman as well as men; and written in 1826! Carlile’s is a classic text of sexual radicalism.”—Sheila Rowbotham

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What Is Love?
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What Is Love?

by Richard Carlile

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What Is Love?

What Is Love?

by Michael L. Bush; Richard Carlile

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Verso Books, 1998. Hardcover. Very Good. Disclaimer:Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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What Is Love? [Hardcover] Richard Carlile and Michael L. Bush
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What Is Love? [Hardcover] Richard Carlile and Michael L. Bush

by Carlile, Richard; Bush, Professor Michael [Editor]

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What Is Love?
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What Is Love?

by Richard Carlile

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781859848517 / 1859848516
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Verso, 1998-09-17. First Edition. hardcover. Used: Good. 5.60x0.81x7.80. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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What Is Love? [Hardcover] Richard Carlile and Michael L. Bush
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What Is Love? [Hardcover] Richard Carlile and Michael L. Bush

by Carlile, Richard; Bush, Professor Michael [Editor]

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781859848517 / 1859848516
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What Is Love?
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What Is Love?

by Richard Carlile

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781859848517 / 1859848516
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hardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
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WHAT IS LOVE? : ; Richard Carlile's Philosophy of Sex

WHAT IS LOVE? : ; Richard Carlile's Philosophy of Sex

by Richard Carlile, Michael L. Bush

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London: Verso, 1998. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Near Fine in a Very Good+ dust jacket. Front and rear flaps ill-fitting.; 7.84 X 5.65 X 0.86 inches; 224 pages.
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