Love: A Curious History in 50 Objects by Edward Brooke-Hitching Simon and Schuster, 256 pages, £30
BRITISH LIBRARY/ILLUSTRATION BY E SUMMERS
Lovers often claim that sexual desire is a sickness. One 10th-century physician described it as a “disease touching the brain”, which could be cured through purgatives, bloodletting, warm baths with water lilies, and a diet of lettuce and lamb.