Queen Victoria simply did not believe that lesbianism existed, so it was never outlawed in England in the 19th century. However, in the U.S. Susan B. Anthony, the artist Natalie Barney, and Emily Dickinson were all brushing up the sapphic arts. Over in France, the Napoleonic Code had introduced a certain laxity. Back in England, the death of Queen Vic led to a veritable explosion of lesbianism with the Bloomsbury Group and Radclyffe Hall. Nowadays, lesbianism is the everyday fare of soap operas and, with Madonna French-kissing Britney, global TV. Sex Lives of the Famous Lesbians contain a mixture of the glamorous, the tragic, the excessive, the absurd, and the downright comic. It aims to excite and amuse, while giving a genuine insight into the characters of those people who have shaped our history and culture.