"The Story of V reveals the ancient and newfound powers of the vagina. It is full of mystery and secrets and truth. If we only knew what we had under our skirts! Learn the story-read this book."-Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues

"The author is a phenomenal researcher, and movingly enthusiastic about this special subject."-Guardian

"Sweeping through historical, anthropological, medical, religious, and artistic interpretations of this multifaceted organ, [Blackledge] provides a meticulous guide, not only to the vagina but to changing perceptions of womanhood."-The Observer

"A great idea-virgin territory."-Roy Porter, author of Flesh in the Age of Reason: The Modern Foundations of Body and Soul

It is the seat of female sexual pleasure, the site of the creation of humankind, and the channel for its birth. It is also a potent arouser of sexuality. Yet why is it that we know less about the vagina-its structure and function-than we do about any other organ of the human body?

The Story of V explores how female genitalia have been and continue to be conceived and misconceived. A new look is long overdue. More than two millennia of misinformation has resulted in a Western culture where we refrain from mentioning or showing the vagina; where this organ, when seen publicly, is most commonly viewed as pornographic; and where, of all the organs of the human body, the vagina remains the most clouded in mystery, myth, and biased, out-dated beliefs.

In the past, medicine may have misrepresented female sexual anatomy, reducing its remarkable complexities to the notion of a passive vessel, but, as this book shows, science is at last beginning to reveal the true structure and function of female genitalia and the dynamic nature of the vagina's role in both sexual pleasure and reproduction. The result is nothing less than a vaginal revolution.

With a wide-ranging perspective that takes in prehistoric art, ancient history, linguistics, mythology and folklore, evolutionary theory, reproductive biology and medicine, Catherine Blackledge unveils the hidden marvels of the female form.

Catherine Blackledge received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Birkbeck College, University of London. She is a science writer and lives in the UK. This is her first book.