These stories and essays explore the lives of some of the most fascinating gay, lesbian and bisexual personalities in history, including Michelangelo, Christopher Marlowe, Marianne Moore, Gertrude Stein, James Merrill, Joe Orton, Andre Gide and Gore Vidal.

Taken from the Forward by Felice Picano
"We know that coming out is a process that enriches us. We also know that reading a GLBT book for the first time is another step that propels you even further into the gay community. Reading Nikel's compendium of short but by no means small biographies of well-known homosexuals and fellow-followers is a third helpful, significant, and enriching step.

Not all of these names will be familiar to you. A batch of them weren't known to me and I pride myself on knowing my gay forebears. [But] any book that can increase my knowledge like Thom Nickels' volume is a welcome addition to my library.

A book like that contains inspiration. I know: a terrible word, a misused word. An overused word. But it actually says what it should here: by reading about these men and women, you can be literally 'in-spired,' meaning that new breath leads to better mental and physical health.

Thom Nickels' Out in History is, and should be seen as significant."

Featuring Profiles of:
Andy Warhol, Jean Genet, Bessie Smith, Joe Orton, D.H. Lawrence, Susan Sontag, Henry James, Sal Mineo, Eleanore Roosevelt, James Baldwin, James Dean, Oscar Wilde, Lawrence of Arabia, Cary Grant, Gertrude Stein, Napoleon Bonaparte, Gore Vidal, William Burroughs, Alice Toklas, and many, many more