Although artists are nowadays able to be openly gay and to address homosexuality explicitly in their work, this book argues that it was the harsh climate of 1890-1930 that produced the most outstanding explorations of homosexuality. To support his argument, Meyers illuminates the character and creative process of a range of authors of the period, including Wilde, Gide, Proust, E.M. Forster and T.E. Lawrence, and analyses the sexual problems that were sublimated and transcended in their art.

Jeffrey Meyers is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has taught English at a number of universities across America.