Geschichte des Transvestitismus. Mit Illustrationen.

A social & historical look at Drag in western culture and other cultures. B&W photographs of people and places and famous cases.

An excellent, plentifully illustrated, brief history of transvestism.

Ackroyd covers all the major bases, examining the phenomenon from anthropological, psychological, sociological and cultural standpoints. While the book rather naturally focuses on discussion of the sociological and cultural/artistic expressions of transvestism (including a brief but highly interesting chapter on transvestism in literature), Ackroyd is not afraid to speculate on the psychological motivations of transvestites; he's at his best when considering the differences between transvestism and "drag", as well as the psychological distinction between those who dress in clothing associated with the opposite gender for reasons of psychological compulsion or sexual fetish and those who dress thus as part and parcel of transexualism and a core gender identity differing from that assigned at birth. Although the book was written in 1978, Ackroyd's views on transvestism, his sociological and psychological insights, are sensitive and sophisticated; certainly, he's a far more sympathetic, less judgmental and biased observer than many of the psychiatric experts of the time.

The book's out of print but well worth hunting down. Or, for that matter, snatching up, should you run across a copy. ( )