Oscar Wilde's Last Stand: Decadence, Conspiracy, and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century

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vi, 250 pp. "The first production of Oscar Wilde's Salome in 1918 touched off a firestorm in London when the play's lead, exotic dancer Maud Allan, was denounced as belonging to th e Cult of the Clitoris -- a feminine variation on the Cult of Wilde, the mark of degeneracy and perversion. The ensuing libel trial, brought to life in this authoritative, spellbinding book, raised the specters of hysteria, homophobia, and paranoia that, like Wilde himself, have haunted our century." Show more