SEX
A doctrine of self-control
FERN RIDDELL gives a cautious welcome to an exploration of American attitudes down the years towards both sex work and female sex workers
Empire of Purity: The History of Americans’ Global War on Prostitution by Eva Payne Princeton University Press, 336 pages, £30
In this study of America’s crusade against female prostitution, both at home and abroad, Eva Payne lays out the emotional and moral conflicts that surround sex work. While Empire of Purity is not a book for the casual reader, Payne’s dense academic research is interspersed with fascinating glimpses of individuals caught up in the quest to regulate and criminalise American sex workers, from 1870 to the 1930s.