“Sex Before the Sexual Revolution: Intimate Life in England 1918-1963” by Simon Szreter and Kate Fisher just recently reviewed by Daily Mail advice columnist Bel Mooney (though it came out in late 2010), sounds like a read not to be missed, both solidifying and upending ideas about what sexual life was like for certain members of the generations who didn't talk about it.

Ignorance about even simple biology sounds scary: Mooney highlights the story of a heartbroken reverend, Chad Varah who, had to bury a 13-year-old girl who got her first period and committed suicide, not knowing what it was and not having anyone to ask. The event that made him determined to change silence and ignorance. Way on the other end of the spectrum was the happiness some couples found by discovering sex together and something that surprised Mooney: “that the men interviewed shared a remarkably gentle and unselfish approach to sex.”

Simon Callow, reviewing the book for The Guardian, says the title is misleading since the book omits all other groups and focuses only on married working/middle class in the pre-contraception era, but within that focus, he writes, “I can scarcely recall reading a book which gives a richer, more comprehensive—and, ultimately, more deeply moving—account of the human experience, or at least those parts of it that are central for so many of us.”

Quite an endorsement. And what's nicer than being surprised by what you thought you already knew?