This book was written in Sanscrit and provides a fascinating insight into a culture far removed from our own. Revealed is an ancient philosophy on love and how to treat women, both out of and in the bedroom. The book is of course most well known as a manual on how to reach a higher level of pleasure in one's sexual experience. The text was written by Vatsyana, who was and is renowned as the chief authority on Hindu erotic literature - Kama Sutra is literally translated as "Aphorisms on Love." Note - this version of the book is without illustrations.

The Kama Sutra is the oldest and most notable of a group of texts known generically as Kama Shastra . Traditionally, the first transmission of Kama Shastra or "Discipline of Kama" is attributed to Nandi the sacred bull, Shiva's doorkeeper, who was moved to sacred utterance by overhearing the lovemaking of the god and his wife Parvati and later recorded his utterances for the benefit of mankind. Some Indian philosophies follow the "four main goals of life," known as the purusharthas: 1. Dharma: Virtuous living. 2. Artha: Material prosperity. 3. Kama: Aesthetic and erotic pleasure. 4. Moksha: Liberation. Dharma, Artha and Kama are aims of everyday life, while Moksha is release from the cycle of death and rebirth. The Kama Sutra (Burton translation) says: "Dharma is better than Artha, and Artha is better than Kama. But Artha should always be first practiced by the king for the livelihood of men is to be obtained from it only. Again, Kama being the occupation of public women, they should prefer it to the other two, and these are exceptions to the general rule." (Kama Sutra 1.2.14)