Review
Lively and cheeky in tone, her book leaves you with the impression that, no matter what you believe to be obvious and natural about the female body, somebody in power once believed the exact opposite -- S. C. Cornell - The New Yorker
With erudition and cool wit, Helen King anatomises three millennia of Western commentary from doctors, teachers and theologians about the female body -- Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch
A richly nuanced and absorbing exploration of women's unique anatomy. Across these four anatomical histories King provides an illuminating and outstandingly well-researched account of how women's bodies have been interpreted and mythologized for as long as we can remember -- Carolyne Larrington - TLS
An impressively widely read study, lightened along the way with illuminating trivia and King's gentle wit -- Pippa Bailey - New Statesman
Looking for a new history book? I highly recommend Professor Helen King's IMMACULATE FORMS which does a fascinating job of exploring the history of women's bodies, including some eye-opening history of the clitoris -- Greg Jenner
Illuminating and scholarly ... [showing] again and again how men have charted women's bodies, examined and dissected those bodies, condemned those bodies ... King's thoughtful tome addresses how women - historically perceived as mysteries to themselves and those who would seem to know them - have been defined, and how their bodies by their very existence resist those definitions -- Erica Wagner - Financial Times
Read it and be enlightened as well as entertained - Church Times
Dr King expertly weaves science, history, and culture to illuminate history and educate about the most misunderstood parts of our bodies...Impeccably researched, thoroughly enjoyable, and filled with moments of surprise, this book will astound -- Dr Jennifer Gunter, author of THE VAGINA BIBLE
Chock-full of wonderful, strange and amazing stories, King's book is a vivid history of how women's bodies have been understood - and misunderstood - over the centuries -- Mary Fissell - BBC History Magazine
Recreates centuries of fractious male discussion of women's bodies -- Amanda Vickery - BBC Radio 4 Start the Week
Delightful, timely and critical. If cognitive science has taught us anything, it's that our imagination of the future is built from our memories of the past. Helen King is here to give us some better material to build with. The history of women's bodies isn't nearly what you think it is, nor the history of "womanhood" itself -- Cat Bohannon, author of EVE
Fascinating and striking -- Lauren Good - BBC History Extra
Thorough, thoughtful and thought provoking -- Sarah Edwards - Socialist Worker
From the comical to the bizarre and downright dangerous, IMMACULATE FORMS looks at how women's bodies have been shaped and understood by scientific theories and religious beliefs throughout history - and often, by men. The mind blowing book covers a vast range of time, going right back to ancient Greece and coming up to the present day ... it's fascinating stuff -- Anita Rani, BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour
Book Description