A brilliant microhistory of the sex toy that ultimately tells the story of our changing sexual mores and evolving cultural values.

Once only whispered about, vibrators now pervade pop culture. In this suprisingly stimulating story of how these once-taboo toys become socially acceptable, Hallie Lieberman-who holds the world's first PhD in the history of sex toys-traces the tales from lubricant in Ancient Greece to the first condom in 1560 to advertisements in 19th-century magazines, and explores in particular the changes from the 1950s to the present.