Century of Sex

James R. Petersen, the former Playboy Advisor, turns pop historian in The Century of Sex, a breezy, data-packed history of American sexual culture and politics in the 20th century. Although the history was commissioned by the legendary founder of Playboy, Hugh Hefner explains in a foreword that the sexual revolution it chronicles is "not the one that I am sometimes credited (or, conversely, blamed for) starting.

James R. Petersen, the former Playboy Advisor, turns pop historian in The Century of Sex, a breezy, data-packed history of American sexual culture and politics in the 20th century. Although the history was commissioned by the legendary founder of Playboy, Hugh Hefner explains in a foreword that the sexual revolution it chronicles is "not the one that I am sometimes credited (or, conversely, blamed for) starting.

Arguing that the 1960s "sexual revolution" was in fact a chapter in a much larger social movement, the author investigates a century of sex and …