The Condom: three thousand years of safer sex

In his introductory letter Dr Chevallier claims that 'condoms are as much part of our lives as the chewing-gum that sticks to our shoe.' Really? Well, if not, would that they were, and this is the book to help. It's a companionable gossamer-thin paperback dealing with the nature, history and evolution of the device. Among many fascinating facts we learn that the original Dr Condom 'may have been' physician to Charles II who used ones made of sheep gut, that their first mass-producer was MacIntosh the raincoat king and that the European Standard for condoms insists that each one be capable of retaining 15 litres of air which, we're told, is 'considerably more than in normal conditions.' Emphasising the condom's role in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, the book presents an attractively sensible portrait of an essentially friendly object. There's good humour in plenty, even if some of the willicisms don't exactly translate from the French. For the price of a bargain dozen here's a good read which should prove popular and useful among young explorers of either gender - and especially to anyone who habitually steps in chewing gum while leaving the chemists with yet another packet of cough-sweets.