Noel Malcolm, Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1450-1700, Oxford University Press, £25 The love that dare not speak its name has, in fact, had many. On the first page of this deeply erudite, highly original and epoch-making book, Noel Malcolm explains why he eschews modern terminology such as ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ in favour of the word commonly used in early modern Europe: sodomy.