A little gay history : desire and diversity across the world / Richard Parkinson ; with contributions by Kate Smith and Max Carocci.

How old is the oldest chat-up line between men? Who was the first 'lesbian'? Were ancient Greek men who had sex together necessarily 'gay'? And what did Shakespeare think about cross-dressing? This book takes objects ranging from Ancient Egyptian papyri and the erotic scenes on the Roman Warren Cup to images by modern artists including David Hockney and Bhupen Khakhar to consider questions such as these. This book explores the intimate issues behind forty artefacts from ancient times to the present, and from cultures across the world, to ask a question that concerns us all: how easily can we recognize love in history?