This volume brings together for the first time a series of studies on the social history of venereal disease in modern Europe and its former colonies. It explores, from a comparative perspective, the responses of legal, medical and political authorities to the 'Great Scourge'. In particular, how such responses reflected and shaped social attitudes towards sexuality and social relationships of class, gender, generation and race. Topics covered include: * the discourses surrounding VD and prostitution in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Europe using case studies of France, Sweden and the Netherlands * the impact of VD on wartime and interwar social hygiene initiatives * the balance between moral and medical imperatives in public health initiatives, in Germany, Italy, Russia and the UK * the social history of VD within the colonial context - including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Uganda * the interaction of metropolitan and colonial ideologies, and the interface between race, gender and disease * the relationship between VD and social change since the Second World War * the social construction of disease and promiscuity in post-war Europe; and the debate surrounding VD within the 'permissive' society, and after This wide-ranging and illuminating book will be an invaluable resource for researchers in a number of disciplines, including history, the history of medicine, social policy, welfare, gender and sexuality, politics and cultural studies.