Long before the rise of the modern gay movement, an unnoticed literary revolution was occurring, mostly between the covers of the cheaply produced pulp paperbacks of the post-World War II era. Cultural critic Michael Bronski collects a sampling of these now little-known gay erotic writings--some by writers long forgotten, some never known and a few now famous. Through them, Bronski challenges many long-held views of American postwar fiction and the rise of gay literature, as well as of the culture at large.

Engaging and largely untold, "From the Closet to the Courtroom" explores how five pivotal lawsuits have altered LGBT history. Beginning each case narrative at the center--with the litigants and their lawyers--law professor Carlos Ball follows the stories behind each crucial lawsuit. He traces the parties from their communities to the courtroom, while deftly weaving in rich sociohistorical context and analyzing the lasting legal and political impact of each judicial outcome.

Charles Jackson (1903-1968) achieved international success with his first book, The Lost Weekend (1944), a groundbreaking novel about alcoholism that sold more than 600,000 copies and was adapted for an Academy Award-winning film version. Jackson followed this triumph with a novel that was even more daring, The Fall of Valor (1946), arguably the first major American novel to deal openly with the theme of homosexuality.
The Fall of Valor is an unflinching portrayal of a marriage that has faded to a mere duty. John and Ethel Grandin take a summer vacation to Nantucket with...