Overview

More than a century ago, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, dubbed the ""Einstein of Sex,"" grew famous (and infamous) for his liberating theory of sexual relativity. Today, he's been largely forgotten. Journalist Daniel Brook retraces Hirschfeld's rollicking life and reinvigorates his legacy, recovering one of the great visionaries of the twentieth century. In an era when gay sex was a crime and gender roles rigid, Hirschfeld taught that each of us is their own unique mixture of masculinity and femininity. Through his public advocacy for gay rights and his private counseling of patients toward self-acceptance, he became the intellectual impresario of Berlin's cabaret scene and helped turn his hometown into the world's queer capital. But he also enraged the Nazis, who ransacked his Institute for Sexual Science and burned his books Driven from his homeland, Hirschfeld traveled to America, Asia, and the Middle East to research sexuality on a global scale. Through his harrowing lived experience of antisemitic persecution and a pivotal late-in-life interracial romance, he came to see that race, like gender, was a human invention. Hirschfeld spent his final years in exile trying to warn the world of the genocidal dangers of racism. Rich in passion and intellect, The Einstein of Sex at last brings together this unsung icon's work on sexuality, gender, and race and recovers the visionary who first saw beyond the binaries. A century after his groundbreaking work-as the fights for personal freedom and societal acceptance rage on-Hirschfeld's gift for thinking beyond the confines of his world has much to teach us

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Magnus Hirschfield belongs on the short list of great twentieth-century social scientists. Instead, his name is largely forgotten. In this riveting historical biography, Daniel Brook narrates the brilliant life and violent suppression of a queer, Jewish, cosmopolitan intellectual whose ideas about sexuality and race were ahead of their time and as urgent today as they were a century ago.--Eric Klinenberg, Helen Gould Shepard Professor in the Social Sciences, New York University A revelatory biography of perhaps our most important unsung queer hero. Over a century ago, Hirschfeld introduced the Western world to the heretical idea that humans navigate spectrums of sexuality, gender and even race, and that this complexity is deeply healthy for our development as humans. We now know Magnus was right.--John Cameron Mitchell, Tony-award winning director, writer, and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch

[In] this vital biography. . . Brook's elegant elucidation of Hirschfeld's theories proves that there's nothing new about the idea that gender and sexuality exist on a spectrum, and the chilling account of the persecution Hirschfeld faced shows the disturbing ways in which authoritarian leaders stigmatize queerness. This will stick with readers long after they finish the last page.-- ""Publishers Weekly (starred review)"" A revelatory biography of perhaps our most important unsung queer hero. Over a century ago, Magnus Hirschfeld introduced the Western world to the heretical idea that humans navigate spectrums of sexuality, gender, and even race, and that this complexity is deeply healthy for our development as humans. We now know Hirschfeld was right.--John Cameron Mitchell, Tony award-winning director, writer, and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch Magnus Hirschfeld was one of the twentieth century's most influential social scientists, but today his name is largely forgotten. In this riveting historical biography, Daniel Brook narrates the brilliant life and violent suppression of a queer, Jewish, cosmopolitan intellectual whose ideas about sexuality and race were ahead of their time and as urgent today as they were a century ago.--Eric Klinenberg, Helen Gould Shepard Professor in the Social Sciences, New York University Finally, a fitting tribute to the Godfather of Sexology, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld! Sweeping in scope and immensely readable, featuring a veritable tour de shvants and cabaret of scene-work, The Einstein of Sex paints the sexuality of the great man back into his body of expertise. The queer world applauds such a triumph.--Robert W. Fieseler, author of American Scare and Tinderbox

A well-informed life of a scientist worth remembering.-- ""Kirkus Reviews"" You've probably never heard of Magnus Hirschfeld--and this is an injustice to a truly great man. Daniel Brook's excellent biography. . . resurrects Dr. Hirschfeld's status as one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century, whose insights into human nature can illuminate our turbulent times.--Deborah Mason ""BookPage"" [In] this vital biography. . . Brook's elegant elucidation of Hirschfeld's theories proves that there's nothing new about the idea that gender and sexuality exist on a spectrum, and the chilling account of the persecution Hirschfeld faced shows the disturbing ways in which authoritarian leaders stigmatize queerness. This will stick with readers long after they finish the last page.-- ""Publishers Weekly (starred review)"" A revelatory biography of perhaps our most important unsung queer hero. Over a century ago, Magnus Hirschfeld introduced the Western world to the heretical idea that humans navigate spectrums of sexuality, gender, and even race, and that this complexity is deeply healthy for our development as humans. We now know Hirschfeld was right.--John Cameron Mitchell, Tony award-winning director, writer, and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch Magnus Hirschfeld was one of the twentieth century's most influential social scientists, but today his name is largely forgotten. In this riveting historical biography, Daniel Brook narrates the brilliant life and violent suppression of a queer, Jewish, cosmopolitan intellectual whose ideas about sexuality and race were ahead of their time and as urgent today as they were a century ago.--Eric Klinenberg, Helen Gould Shepard Professor in the Social Sciences, New York University Finally, a fitting tribute to the Godfather of Sexology, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld! Sweeping in scope and immensely readable, featuring a veritable tour de shvants and cabaret of scene-work, The Einstein of Sex paints the sexuality of the great man back into his body of expertise. The queer world applauds such a triumph.--Robert W. Fieseler, author of American Scare and Tinderbox

Author Information

Daniel Brook is a journalist whose writing has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, Nation, and New York Times Magazine, and he is the author of several books, including A History of Future Cities and The Accident of Color: A Story of Race in Reconstruction. A New York native and a Yale graduate, Brook lives in New Orleans. He researched The Einstein of Sex in Berlin on a Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship.

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