This book tells the stories of 11 American gay men who tried to make sense of their identities in the years before the modern gay movement began. In their own words, these men recollect fascinating accounts of what it was like negotiate their desires within a social and psychological context in which homosexuality was marginalized. The editors carefully situate the lifestories in US culture before Stonewall and skillfully raises the issues and problems in presenting such stories.

This collection tells the stories of 11 American gay men who tried to understand their indentities in the years before the modern gay liberation movement began. From the 1920s through the 1960s, from a variety of regions and social classes, the men describe their families, early childhood experiences, coming out in settings unlike the gay neighbourhoods and communities of today, and their current romantic and sexual lives. For some men the military presented the opportunity to explore their personal and social identities; for others, a chance encounter in a seminary, an accidentally-discovered gay bar, or a hetrosexual marriage provoked them into exploring deeper needs and desires. The variety of experiences illustrates the numerous ways individuals come to know their gay selves in an often unfriendly and hostile world. Interviews with a contemporary elder of the gay movement and a heterosexual psychiatrist who argues against categorizing homosexuality as a mental disorder, supplement the original 11 stories.

Critical Thinking: Tools for Evaluating Research prepares students for interpreting information in a critical and thoughtful way so they can develop sophisticated levels of analyses crucial for understanding our increasingly complex and multi-mediated world. Peter M. Nardi's approach helps students improve analytical reasoning, develop insightful skepticism, and interpret and create reliable and valid research methodologies. The book emphasizes the creation of a toolbox of analytic skills enabling them to ask the right questions about the research and stories they hear or read about online, in the mass media, or in scholarly publications. Students are provided with ways to understand common errors in thinking; identify methods required to evaluate information and interpret results; understand social science concepts needed to make sense of both popular and academic claims; and communicate, apply, and integrate the methods learned in both research and daily life.