Psychopathia Sexualis

Before Freud, before modern sexology, before the language of sexual identity became part of public culture, there was Psychopathia Sexualis.Richard von Krafft-Ebing's masterpiece is one of the most influential books ever written on the hidden life of desire. Fetishism, sadism, masochism, homosexuality, sexual obsession, compulsion, crime, guilt, instinct, and the darker movements of the mind are examined with the cold precision of the physician and the disturbing force of a book that opened an entire field of knowledge.For generations, Psychopathia Sexualis shaped the way doctors, jurists, psychologists, and intellectuals understood sexuality. It brought forbidden subjects out of silence and placed them at the centre of medical, legal, and cultural debate.This new edited and translated edition restores a classic that remains essential for readers interested in psychology, sexuality, criminology, forbidden knowledge, medical history, and the origins of modern thought about desire.