Early in the introduction to Before Wilde: Sex Between Men in Britain's Age of Reform the author, Charles Upchurch, clearly states his two major objectives. First, he proposes to analyze the differences regarding attitudes toward sex between men across class divisions by focusing attention on individual narratives. His second goal is "to connect the shift in how sex between men was regulated and understood in the early nineteenth century…" He has succeeded admirably.

Before Wilde studies a period that falls between the late eighteenth century sodomy trials and molly-house raids, and the sensational trials of the late nineteenth century that included the Boulton and Park Trial, the Cleveland Street Scandal, and the Dublin Castle Affair. Upchurch relies on public reports available in newspapers and courtroom accounts between the years 1820 through 1870, to examine the behavior of upper-, working-, and middle-class men that lead to regulating sex between men. His research counters earlier assumptions that discussions of this topic were minimal until the late nineteenth century. Instead, Upchurch discovered an increase in "unnatural-assault reporting" from the 1820s through the 1860s. The introduction provides an excellent summary of the scholarship that has preceded this work. As the author notes, there has been significant work on the charges against Oscar Wilde, court cases involving middle-class cross-dressers, and upper class men paying for sex with telegraph delivery boys, but Upchurch is the first scholar to examine hundreds of articles from mainstream newspapers after 1820 to determine how things like income and social concerns shaped the attitudes of families involved in these court cases, and he concludes that discussions about same-sex relationships were part of regular public discourse.

Part One focuses on families and their response to sex between men, how men viewed these acts, and how perceptions varied depending on the age of those involved, the geographic location, and the types of acts engaged in. As the author notes, the understanding of mutual obligations between the classes changed over time. Economic hardships during the years between 1815 to 1850, the threat of revolution, a shift to a capitalist industrial society and the growth of the Evangelical movement within the Church of England, all played a role in perceptions and changes in attitude. In addition, there was a profound shift in law enforcement during this period and a developing system that sought to reform and regulate behavior.

In Part Two, Upchurch examines the law, policing, and newspapers, and how these three forces influenced society's understanding of behavior. Upchurch provides an examination of newspaper readership among different segments of the population, and looks at changes in the law regarding evidence and penalties against homosexual behavior. He notes that different newspapers chose to cover unnatural assault stories from the 1820s through the 1860s--the Times, the Weekly Dispatch, and the Morning Post together published nearly one thousand reports in a fifty year period, and Upchurch uses this material to present compelling evidence for his thesis.

The final chapter examines the medical theorization of same-sex desire in light of the fact that such behavior was considered incompatible with moral behavior. Upchurch relies on the work of Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Havelock Ellis, John Addington Symonds and others to provide an overview of scientific attitudes toward homosexual behavior. The theories and conclusions drawn by the scientific community and the response from the developing justice system helped shape beliefs that still exist today. Before Wilde offers a notable and refreshing perspective on an important yet neglected period of gay history, and the case histories Upchurch has chosen are provocative, moving snapshots from the life of individuals who had much at stake.