25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom Hardcover – October 1, 2009

This little text is an exceptional piece of art history that throws light on sex as the subject of art as opposed to the ascetic approach taken by so many art books. Alan Moore is an exceptional writer of comics (up in there in the pantheon.) It turns out he is not unschooled in the history of art and this book is a genuine work of scholarship and an astute analysis of the status of pornography in our world today. There is a panel in "Watchmen" where Ozymandias is sitting in his secret base with a whole wall of televisions analyzing what it is that the world watches and points out that there are even sexual innuendos in commercials for children's candy bars now. This sort of over-saturation of sexuality in our modern world where sex itself is prohibited reinforces a cycle of guilt, Moore argues.So in a sense, this book is a plea for sanity and tolerance in the way we think about sex. The difference Moore notes between erotica and pornography is usually the amount of money the purchaser makes. So pornography should be restored to its proper place as art and not relegated to some marginal standard-less cellar. Moore diligently chronicles the prejudices exacted on erotic expression in art (mainly since the 19th century, which is why I give the book a 4) with humor and style. Reading the book is great experience, it challenges many assumptions about what is considered acceptable and what is not. If you have read Moore's work before than this is an excellent supplement to his work, it is also wonderful it own right if you're interested in art, sex, or both.

'25.000 years' is both cultural analysis and a manifesto of sorts. Alan Moore sees ills in Anglo-Saxon society such as an activist foreign policy, attacks on science and rising sex crime as caused by a repressed, guilt-laden attitude towards sexuality. In support of his thesis the author sketches out an overview of the development of erotic art and the accompanying social mores.In particular he contrasts the culture of classical Greece which fused sexual liberty with staggering cultural achievements with Christianity, which saw sex as sinful and achieved crusades, mainly.In his own words: "Sexually progressive cultures gave us mathematics, literature, philosophy, civilization, and the rest, while sexually restrictive cultures gave us the Dark Ages and the Holocaust."The problem with this line of argument is that it rests on faulty assumptions and sloppy reasoning. The saintly Greeks, for example, weren't nearly as libertine as 19th century historians made the out to be. They were also capable of incredible brutal massacres that would make a Nazi weep with joy. Just read Thucydides.Conversely the supposedly repressed British and their evil empire abolished slavery and established free trade, not to mention initiating the industrial revolution that has enabled us to afford all that excellent pornography.It appears the conjunction between sexual progressiveness and cultural achievements isn't as clear as the author would likes us to believe.The argument is further marred by a very cursory treatment of history. The Vikings apparently raided Europe for a thousand years. William Caxton is repeatedly credited with having invented the printing press. The Germans committed the Holocaust because they had to wear spiked cockrings during adolescence. That last idea may have been meant as a witticism but comes across as simply dumb.Alan Moore the proceeds to the current situation in Britain and the U.S. where he sees rising sex crimes as caused by a repressive attitude towards pornography, in contrast with some European countries who have porn in the public sphere and low rates of sex crimes.Unfortunately we are left in the dark as to how a sex crime is defined, how it is measured and how the numbers tally up. All we have are assertions and if they are as reliable as the rest of Moore's information I wouldn't place much faith in them.The books ends with a manifesto where the author calls for a distinction between good and bad pornography, the good one having the distinction of being socially useful, whatever that means.To sum up `25.000 Years' is a badly thought-through bilgefest of a parochial mind. You do get some nice pictures though.

25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom is an unedited and expanded hard cover binding of an essay that Alan Moore wrote for "Arthur" Magazine during the publication of his erotic graphic novel masterpiece the Lost Girls. The book is a light survey of humanities' obsession with sex since the dawn of time to present day, illustrated with many full page panels of titillating art and the masterful prose of Moore. Like the Lost Girls, 25,000 years of Erotic Freedom does not seek to overtly glorify "pornography" or taboo subjects, but merely brings them to light and exposes the fact that we are more drawn to that which we publicly object to than we willingly admit. Moore explores our double-sided viewpoint on all things erotic, at once trying to sweep it under the carpet while secretly pilfering guilty glances while no one else is looking; and analysis the effect that such a suppressive attitude has had on sexuality and culture in general. A wonderful read for anyone who is tired of feeling guilty for wanting to explore all that sexuality has to offer in a culture that practically buries us under mountains of sexual suggestion while slapping our wrists for getting excited.

Alan Moore, a latter day libertine and brilliant author takes an iconoclastic view of pornography in this essay. I recommend it but it is neither a scholarly work nor a collection of erotica. Rather, it is one very intelligent man making the case for a serious reexamination of porn.

This slim book is an expanded form of a piece Moore wrote for the counter-cultural free magazine ARTHUR a few years back. It's a great tour of the history of erotic/pornographic art, ideas, human attitudes towards such. It is not scholarly, but Moore simply riffing is a real treat: insightful, amusing, informative and thought provoking.

well done

Let's be clear the arguments made in this book are anecdotal, not research driven. Author Alan Moore posits that societies, where pornography and sex are publicly accepted and treated like art, are healthier and more intellectually creative. He uses examples past and present to make the case. I'm not entirely convinced. Given the controversial nature of the topic YMMV.

Alan Moore does it again ... a mesmerizing and often hilarious account of porn through the epochs from one of the greatest writers of our time, and one of the most visionary of men living today. Sayeth he: "Sexually progressive cultures gave us literature, philosophy, civilization and the rest, while sexually restrictive cultures gave us the Dark Ages and the Holocaust". Well worth the price. Apart from the stickers on the otherwise beautiful cover, it's 100% perfect in its pleasure.

Text is informative, thought provoking and at times humerous, as expected from Alan Moore...just a warning about the Kindle edition, contrary to the product description, this edition contains NO pictures.

The images are wonderful, but the accompanying essay could have been better: alan moore is definetely not at his best here, it seems like he wrote it because he had to, it starts really good but soon focuses too much on the comparatively narrow British and American history of pornography, disregarding other traditions that are just hinted at in a generalizing way.

This is a lovely book, nicely bound and with an interesting, and in places, quite funny essay. It only took me a few hours to read through it. There are many nice prints through out the book, a pleasure to read.

This concise & beautifully presented tome contains Northampton's hairiest authors' musings upon pornography/erotic art throughout the ages, from the sculpting of the Venus Of Willendorf between 24,000 & 22,000 years ago to the present. He also addresses why pornography has historically been hailed as art when it is now perceived as something seedy to be concealed under the mattress.Moore perceives a correlation between sexual liberation & socially enlightened societies, drawing upon examples such as the ancient Greeks, who were constantly surrounded by erotic friezes & statues of "Pan violating many of our current barnyard... and a really slutty nanny goat in the bargain." Conversely, he believes that Constantine's adaptation of Christianity led to the downfall of the Roman Empire & a cultural shift towards repression & sexual guilt which ushered in the Dark Ages. While early Christian churches also contained images of naked flesh to get punters on pews, the context was very different from that of ancient Greece, since "implicitly, it was acceptable to enjoy sexual imagery as long as you accepted also that such acts were sinful and felt suitably ashamed and guilty if you were in any way aroused by their depiction. This established the immediate link between the perusal of pornography and intense self-loathing or embarrassment, which sill exists today throughout most of the Western world."This isn't an academic piece, so there's no referencing to reinforce Moore's musings, although of one particularly far-fetched Victorian practice, he impishly concedes that "yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was told that by Malcolm McLaren, and if you can't trust Malcolm McLaren then whom can you trust?" This is an example of the tongue-in-cheek-while-making-a-serious-point charm which exudes from these beautiful pages.And the pages are indeed beautiful - this thin volume houses quality paper lavished with numerous examples of erotic & nude art from a plethora of periods. There's a number of surprises, too - for instance, I have a passing admiration for Hokusai & have attended a couple of exhibitions of his work, yet had no idea that he had made erotic prints until I saw the examples reproduced herein. This is consistent with other examples Moore provides of noted artists whose erotic daubings were destroyed by their relations upon inheriting their estates; sexual appreciation seems to be constantly edited out of history.Yet hope is on the horizon. If individual artists "have the nerve to plant their flags in the this despised & dangerous terrain... [then] the erotic might be elevated from her current status as a hooker everyone keeps chained up in the cellar but nobody talks about... back to her previous position as a goddess." Moore has planted his flag with this book & the controversial  Lost Girls  - let's see if anyone with a similar profile follows suit. Lost Girls