James R. Petersen, the former Playboy Advisor, turns pop historian in
The Century of Sex, a breezy, data-packed history of American sexual culture
and politics in the 20th century. Although the history was commissioned by
the legendary founder of Playboy, Hugh Hefner explains in a foreword that
the sexual revolution it chronicles is "not the one that I am sometimes
credited (or, conversely, blamed for) starting." And so The Century of Sex
begins with the battle between Anthony Comstock, the early 20th century's
most powerful censor, and free-love advocate Ida Craddock (in which Comstock,
pursuing charges of "circulation of obscene literature" against Craddock for
distributing sex-education pamphlets through the mail, drove the activist to
suicide.) Playboy's role certainly isn't overlooked, but it is situated within
a context that includes changing representations of sexuality in cinema, women's
and gay liberation, and the advent of cybersex. (The color plates in the middle
of the book are a captivating visual synopsis, as the images get franker and
more provocative.) There are a few clunkers--for example, identifying Madonna
as a riot grrrl--but, all in all, Petersen's chronicle is informative and fun

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