Contraception: A History

Foreword

Introduction

Ars erotica: the early arts of birth control

The Economics of Sexual Reproduction: birth control in the ancient world?

Calls for greater Fertility: origins of the reproduction ethic in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

The not so secret Lore of Ancient Medicine

Poetic Truth: deliberate infertility as a theme in ancient literature

Unfruitful Activities: “suppositories for women” and herbal potions

Transformations: the supposed repression of birth control knowledge in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

A History of Demographics and the Origins of Birth Control

Secreta mulierum: female lore on pregnancy and birth control

Sexual Desire and Atonement: a theology of “the sinful flesh”

Castration, Condoms, Casanovas: techniques of birth control old and new

The Commencement of scientia sexualis in the 19th century: the effects of moral and political imperatives on the discourse on birth control

(Neo-) Malthusianism and its Implications for Demographics

A fresh approach to knowledge: educational sex brochures and their readers

Sexual politics: intensified control and its counter resistance

The practice of “being careful” - between tradition and progress

A Day to Day Regime: the “democratisation” of birth control in the 20th century

A Promise of Deliverance: the “nationalisation” of birth control: enforced sterilisation and national birth control programmes

Sexual Morality in Transition and the waning Influence of Religion

synchronicity and the asynchronous: birth control techniques old and new

Future Prospects

“A contraceptive Pill for men” - the contraceptive of the future

Notes

Bibliography