Reading between the lines

There are numerous books and articles about the general history of contraception or its most salient episodes and characters. The majority are written in an epic style: its actors are conveyed as heroes who struggled to overcome the tenacious prejudices with which society, religion and the medical establishment rejected contraception. That flattering literature needs to be compensated by a critical story, not simply antagonistic and reactive, as is usually published from the anti-contraception front. Our goal is thus to share with readers a well-documented account of little-known or silenced events about the activities and mentalities of the birth control movement.