FLICK : The Story of Female Pleasure

Author: Kate Lister

Social & cultural history

Published on 28 May 2026 by Transworld Publishers Ltd (Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 336 pages
243 x 164 x 32mm | 542g

FLICK is a rousing history of women enjoying sex: sex with themselves, sex with each other, and occasionally sex with men as well.

Meet the women throughout history who, quite literally, came before us.

From the host of award-winning History Hit podcast Betwixt the Sheets.

'Flicking excellent . . . Kate Lister is a goddess.' DR LUCY WORSLEY'This eye-opening account of how women's pleasure has been controlled throught time is thought provoking and intrepid...an excellent, spiky book.' TELEGRAPH'Unique, brilliant, gripping and unforgettable.' PROF KATE WILLIAMSThere is a common misconception that before modern day feminism, women throughout history simply lay back and thought of England or their respective place of origin; that the modern ‘sex positive’ movement is a radical break from the past. But women demanding better sex did not arrive with free love or the Rampant Rabbit. It has been a very long fight indeed.

From Ancient Mesopotamian sex goddesses to the contraceptive pill, Kate Lister takes us through history to show us how women’s sexual pleasure was controlled, understood and thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed.