Seduction: A History From the Enlightenment to the Present Hardcover – February 4, 2020

I appreciate this book! It was a real page turner! It reads like a series of biographies of people who reflected or influenced the way we view of seduction including Samuel Richardson, Giacomo Casanova, Mary Wollstonecraft, her daughter Mary Shelly, John Johnson and Bram Stroker.In each story you get the background of what was going on in that period. This way of presenting history, with all the fascinating details of the persons living it, really brings it to life. Its one thing, for example, to read about the laws that police sex. Its another to read about how an individual like Jack Johnson had an impact and was affected by it - His story by the way, was so interesting that i thought that there had to be a movie made about it!Overall, the book is unique in its presentation of history and quite interesting!!

This a well-organized history that sticks to chronology and doesn't bombard the reader with a lot of non-linear references. so many books seem to bounce all over the place. This is a disciplined work. It's a nice slow burn made up of big chapters each focusing on historical (mainly literary) figures leading to a 50-page grand finale and afterword that provides a survey of the topic in the 20th century and today. The 50-page finale could stand on its own, but it works very well following up the preceding material. The author saves most of his analysis for the end, and honestly, I think pound-for-pound it is the most effective part of the book. I might have liked to see more analysis throughout the rest of the book, but it actually works quite well the way it is. He's given us the historical context to understand his analytical finale. I like that in relation to this subject matter he spends time looking at both Frankenstein and Dracula, two of my favorite books. lastly, I noticed that there were more typos than usual for a published book. But that's on the publisher.

The author chose the word seduction for describing rape. Rape under knife point or gun point. Rape of underaged kids by priests. I only read a few pages and couldn’t go on reading that word “seduction” any longer. In addition, the author is boring.

This is one of the most poorly written and edited books I’ve read, ever. The publisher should be ashamed. On every page, there are words missing from sentences, sentences that ramble into nonsense, pretentious words used with no regard to their meaning and poor grammar.

Each sentence holds value, and it's hard to put the book down. The use of evidence to formulate conclusions is powerful. This is a must-read. It's impressive how much historical detail Clement Knox was able to elicit.

From Byron and Shelley to Tinder and incels, this is a fascinating and comprehensive account of a previously unexplored topic. Superbly written and engrossing the whole time.At first it sparked a few strange looks from my wife, but now she's reading it too!