From Publishers Weekly
Most readers know about same-sex romance in ancient Greece and Rome. Fewer may be aware of its prevalence among soldiers in those societies, and even fewer will know of such relationships in modern-day militaries. In Gay Warriors: A Documentary History from the Ancient World to the Present, B.R. Burg (Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition), Professor of History at Arizona State University, presents records of gays and lesbians on the battlefield from the Amazons through U.S. soldiers in the Gulf War. John Boswell discusses "the association of homosexuals with democracy and the military" circa 300 B.C.; Anne Gilmour-Bryson explores "Sodomy and the Knights Templar," a medieval religious and military order; and in 1952 the U.S. Army delivered a "Lecture for the `Indoctrination of WAVE Recruits on Subject of Homosexuality.' "
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Questions about whether or not gays should serve in the military are slightly off. The reality is that they do and always have. If proof is necessary, this insightful compilation of essays on gay and lesbian warriors throughout history is a good place to start. Accomplished historian Burg (Arizona State Univ.), who has proven himself to be a master documentarian in his previous works (e.g., Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition), has gathered important materials in the Western tradition from Homer to Clinton, making for a truly fascinating reading on this controversial subject. Court-martial proceedings and transcripts from Napoleon's army and the Royal Navy, for example, are quite evocative of their age. More frightening are those relating to the prosecution of the Knights Templars. Each of the nine chapters, written by prominent academics (e.g., John Boswell, Anne Gilmour-Bryson) and by Berg himself, covers a specific historical period (e.g., American Civil War, World Wars I and II) and includes enough contextual information to make it pertinent to academics and accessible to the lay reader. David Azzolina,. Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Rapidshare copy at
http://rapidshare.com/files/220935074/Gay_Warriors_A_Documentary_History_from_the_Ancient_World_to_the_Present.pdf.html
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