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<div>This critical sourcebook compiles excerpts from the extensive interviews&nbsp;undertaken by the Wolfenden Committee on the subject of prostitution. The&nbsp;Committee is remembered, first and foremost, for recommending the&nbsp;decriminalization of sex between men. However, the other half of its remitprostitutionhas largely been forgotten, despite the fact that prostitution, not&nbsp;homosexuality, was the original impetus behind the Committees appointment. If&nbsp;we consider the Committee and its Report from this perspective, its status as&nbsp;both a liberal and permissive endeavour must be called into question.&nbsp;This book captures the controversy, diversity and complexity of opinions&nbsp;surrounding prostitution in this period, and provides critical analysis and context.&nbsp;It restores the question of prostitution to its central place in the history of Britains</div><div>so-called progressive era and challenges the way that the Report and its legacy&nbsp;have been characterized. Crucially, this book highlights the substantial evidence&nbsp;gathered by the Committee on prostitution outside of London, which the&nbsp;Wolfenden Report itself largely disregarded. The excerpts, the reprinted report,&nbsp;and the critical introductions to each chapter are intended to spark important&nbsp;debates amongst students, researchers and the public about the history of&nbsp;sexuality, society and the state in twentieth-century Britain.&nbsp;</div>

This critical sourcebook compiles excerpts from the extensive interviews&nbsp;undertaken by the Wolfenden Committee on the subject of prostitution. The&nbsp;Committee is remembered, first and foremost, for recommending the&nbsp;decriminalization of sex between men. However, the other half of its remit-prostitution-has largely been forgotten, despite the fact that prostitution, not&nbsp;homosexuality, was the original impetus behind the Committee&apos;s appointment. If&nbsp;we consider the Committee and its Report from this perspective, its status as&nbsp;both a liberal and permissive endeavour must be called into question.&nbsp;This book captures the controversy, diversity and complexity of opinions&nbsp;surrounding prostitution in this period, and provides critical analysis and context.&nbsp;It restores the question of prostitution to its central place in the history of Britain&apos;sso-called progressive era and challenges the way that the Report and its legacy&nbsp;have been characterized. Crucially, this book highlights the substantial evidence&nbsp;gathered by the Committee on prostitution outside of London, which the&nbsp;Wolfenden Report itself largely disregarded. The excerpts, the reprinted report,&nbsp;and the critical introductions to each chapter are intended to spark important&nbsp;debates amongst students, researchers and the public about the history of&nbsp;sexuality, society and the state in twentieth-century Britain.&nbsp;