The emotions and phobias triggered by the trial of Oscar Wilde appear to have lasted much longer than is usually realised or admitted.
Philip Hoare reveals an ugly slice of social history, although in mitigation it should be said that it erupted early in 1918 when Britain was facing possible defeat in the Great War, and the public's nerves were on edge. A certain eccentric MP and moral crusader, Noel Pemberton Billing, published extraordinary allegations the gist of which was that the Germans had a Black Book listing thousands of English homosexuals in public life who were being blackmailed by them, so jeopardising the war effort. This McCarthyite fantasy was taken far more seriously than it deserved, reaching a climax when Billing was sued for libel and became the centrepiece of a long trial. His main target was the actress-dancer Maud Allan, who had played Salome in Wilde's play and was a favourite with arty homosexuals and aesthetes. Old associates of Wilde (who by then was long dead) were dragged back centre-stage, including Lord Alfred Douglas and Robert Ross. Like McCarthyism, it all petered out in anti-climax but with the ruin of many reputations, including that of Maud Allan who was forced to quit the stage. A strange footnote to history, and well told.