'a fascinating and alarming study ... A staggering number of pictures are reproduced, many of them completely unfamiliar to scholars of the period. The overall thesis of Idols of Perversity is deadly serious, and its relevance for the world we live in is enormous' Review of English Studies 'Dijkstra is exhilarating when he gets down to description and denunciation' Los Angeles Times Book Review 'This is a superb and rewarding book.' Sunday Times 'An astonishing and profusely illustrated encyclopaedia of misogyny, proving once more that men always love the thing they kill.' Observer 'Dijkstra writes with verve and humour ... This is a deeply unsettling book, which no-one interested in the birthright of 20th-century social values should ignore.' Patricia Morison, Sunday Telegraph 'Profusely illustrated' Books 'provocative treasure-house of research' Oxford Times 'An astonishing and profusely illustrated encyclopaedia of misogyny, proving once more that men always love the thing they kill.' Observer 'Extensive scholarly and pictorial research makes this study of the causes and effects of virulent misogyny in fin-de-siecle art an important contribution to our understanding of modern sexuality and culture. This is a superb and rewarding book.' Sunday Times 'A book of value not just to feminists but to sociologists and those interested in painting ... It is a fount of insight into humanity and art.' Day by Day ''A provocative treasure-house of research' Oxford Times 'a scholarly volume' The Times