Petite histoire du préservatif

"A shield against pleasure, a spider's web against danger", in Madame de Staël's words. Condoms have always provoked strong reactions, to the point of arousing repeated debates and controversies culminating in the moment on 17th March 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI, on his way to Yaounde, stigmatised them by stating that they "aggravated the problem" of Aids. Worldwide outcry. Even though condoms clearly do protect from the virus as well as from unwanted pregnancy, they have been the subject of disputes between scientists, politicians and men of the church. The things themselves are harmless enough. At first laboriously crafted from animal intestines and the preserve of libertines, they became a "second skin" for everyone and anyone in less than a century. Once hidden in posies of violets, boxes of chocolates or in discreet "letters", they are now sold in dispensing machines in public places. This Small history of the Condom does not have a linear chronology. It follows evolving attitudes, scientific discoveries and new techniques. The slender thread running through the book is the chequered career of this little piece of latex, intertwined with the stories of its users, its detractors and its manufacturers, from the small-time tripe butcher of old to the multinational corporations of the twenty-first century. Béatrice Fontanel has written over sixty works for adults and children, including one novel, L'homme barbelé (Grasset). Daniel Wolfromm is a special correspondent for France 2 and has also had several books published, including Quand les artistes peignaient l'histoire de France (Seuil) and, as a co-writer with Béatrice Fontanel, Nous étions des hommes, 1914-1918 (La Martinière).