Bloomsbury Continuum swoop for 'extraordinary' history of sexuality from Harry Tanner

Bloomsbury Continuum has swooped for The Queer Thing About Sin: How the West Came to Hate Queer Love, a "groundbreaking" book from classicist Harry Tanner. 

Publisher Tomasz Hoskins signed World English Rights from Kat Aitken, formerly of United Agents. Publication is scheduled for autumn 2025. 

The Queer Thing About Sin "traces the ancient origins of homophobia in the West" across the ancient Mediterranean. "The major social and economic changes which rocked ancient Greece at the height of its cultural power had far-reaching consequences," explains Tanner. "As the tide changed, a land where same-sex desire was accepted became unbearable for those whose only crime was to love."

Tanner also draws on his own experience of conversion therapy and evangelical Christianity. 

The author said: "I’m thrilled to be working with the wonderful team at Bloomsbury on The Queer Thing About Sin. When I was a teenager, Christian teachers and pastors told me that same-sex desire was a terrible sin. I wanted to return to an issue which haunted my teenage years with the armour of historical analysis to tell the truth—to reveal why it came to be: how love became hate. Homophobia is no moral stance: it is a political decision. This book has been a privilege to research and I’m excited to share it with you."
Hoskins added: "We are immensely proud to be publishing this extraordinary book—it’s rare to find such genuinely ground-breaking scholarship allied with such moving and powerful storytelling. It’s a book which has the potential to change the way we see the ancient world and the history of sexuality."