Overview of the life and times of Michael Hardwick, whose court case preceded Lawrence v. Texas. This is both a dense legal history and a compassionate biography: journalistic in tone but with emphasis on Hardwick’s experiences, his personality, and his relationships with those around him. The book is well-researched and well-sourced (there are lots of footnotes!), which makes it more academic in tone. It’s probably suited to law collections or robust LGBTQ+ collections. The photos included in this are a particular delight.

I ended up not finishing this book, but I don’t think it was necessarily a commentary on the quality of the book itself. I felt similarly about the movie Rustin - it’s an important story to tell in the midst of a historical narrative focused on a few individuals. This is going to sound insignificant, but I truly think the cover kept me from picking it back up multiple times. I’d look through my current reads and even knowing the content was good, the vibes it gave off just weren’t consistently interesting enough.

3 stars and my thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

I knew going into this that it would be a legalese heavy nonfiction title, but I just must not have been in the right mindset. MIchael's story was fascinating and I want to learn more about him, but they're throwing court cases at so much, it's hard to keep track of what's happening. That's not the fault of the author, more me, the reader.

Terrific history of the man behind the (in)famous Bowers v Hardwick Supreme Court case. I learned about the case in school but had no idea who the appellant was or what led this case to be tried. I am grateful to the author for his extensive research. We lost so many men of that generation to AIDS and so many stories were lost. I’m glad I got to read this one. The inside info about the Supreme Court Justices was also gold. My only quibble with the book was honestly the conclusion, where the author decided to go on and on about the process of history/historiography. I wasn’t into it. Luckily this was just a small part of an overall great book.

Highly recommend to anyone who likes legal history or lgbtq history.

I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.