Why read The Devil's Chain?

Book cover of The Devil's Chain: Prostitution and Social Control in Partitioned Poland

Book description

In the half-century before Poland's long-awaited political independence in 1918, anxiety surrounding the country's burgeoning sex industry fueled nearly constant public debate. The Devil's Chain is the first book to examine the world of commercial sex throughout the partitioned Polish territories, uncovering a previously hidden conversation about sexuality, gender propriety,…

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Devil's Chain as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Patrice M. Dabrowski

Author

Who would have thought that late-nineteenth-century Poles’ preoccupation with the problem of prostitution could reveal so much about the Polish mindset? Concerns over the sex industry arose during a period of rapid change when there was no Polish state. Poles voiced their concerns about their nation’s future—and their womenfolk. A historian at the height of her powers, Keely Stauter-Halsted skillfully shows how debates on prostitution and an obsession with the bodies of impoverished women reflected a variety of visions of a future Poland.

From Patrice's list on the complexity of Poland and Polish history.