A History of the Rod

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This famous book was first published in 1865, at the apogée of the Victorian era. Its full title—‘A History of the Rod in All Countries, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time’ proclaimed its scope: and to this day it remains the largest single volume ever devoted to a comprehensive history of Flagellation. In its own day it inhabited that eerie borderland between "medical" and "risqué", inclining rather more towards the latter. This was hardly surprising since its real author was a notable Victorian writer of flagellant fiction. To give ‘A History of the Rod’ a measure of respectability, he adopted the pen-name of a clergyman (who in Victorian eyes could do no wrong). The book is an astounding tour-de-force of flagellant history, from Biblical times, through the High Mediæval period, to the "present day" of the author’s own era, when birch-rod, strap and cane were still very much in use around the world, and especially in Britain. This AKS Books edition is faithful to the original in every detail, incl