An introduction places this pamphlet by Richard Carlile in the wider context of 19th-century metropolitan radicalism and a preface views it as a forerunner to today's sex manuals. It is both a historical document and a piece of propaganda.
A leading figure in early 19th-century radical London, Richard Carlile was a leading proponent of "free love", advocating not only honesty and equality for both sexes, but also advice and encouragement in the use of birth control. WHAT IS LOVE? is both a fascinating historical document and a piece of propaganda arguably as pertinent today as it was in the 1820s.
