Matthew Parris Preface (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Hardcover, ix + 189 pages, NOT ex-library. Book is clean and bright throughout, with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Bright untorn dust jacket. -- This work is a foundational memoir of gay life in mid-20th century Britain and a landmark text in the campaign for legal reform. It is the author's personal account of his arrest, trial, and imprisonment for homosexual offenses as part of the infamous Montagu affair of 1954. As one of the first men in Britain to publicly declare his homosexuality after being convicted, Wildeblood provides a searing chronicle of the public scandal, the courtroom ordeal, and the realities of prison life under the laws of the era. Published shortly after his release, the book was a direct and powerful testimony that profoundly influenced public opinion and was instrumental in the establishment of the Wolfenden Committee, which ultimately recommended decriminalization.