Book cover of Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts: A History of Sex for Sale

Book description

The history of selling sex is a hidden one—and too often its practitioners are pushed to the margins of history. This book redresses the balance, revealing the history of the sex trade through the eyes of sex workers, from medieval streets to Wild West saloons, and from brothels to state…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Kate and I have both written about the history of sex work. While mine was confined to London, Kate has gone further afield and researched the hidden histories of sex workers across the globe, charting the lived experience of people who sold sex for a living from Storyville brothels to Chinese flower boats and royal bed chambers.

This authoritative and global history of sex work is enhanced by evocative paintings, archival photographs, and intriguing curios. It really is everything you ever wanted to know about the history of sex work but were afraid to ask! 

If you love Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 89 books like Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts.

Browse books like Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts

Book cover of London: The Biography
Book cover of The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
Book cover of The Victorian Celebration of Death

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts, you might also like...

Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of The Main Gate

The Main Gate by Yvonne Kjorlien,

Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the past—until the past refuses to stay buried.

Hired to join Earth’s first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her be…

5 book lists we think you will like!