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Trans History: A Graphic Novel: From Ancient Times to the Present Day

Paperback
6"W x 8.44"H x 1.06"D   | 23 oz | 20 per carton
On sale May 13, 2025 | 384 Pages | 9781536244175
Age 12 and up
FOC Apr 14, 2025 | Catalog March 2025

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An essential introduction to trans history, from ancient times to the present day, in full-color graphic nonfiction format. Deeply researched, highly readable, and featuring a broad range of voices.

What does “trans” mean, and what does it mean to be trans? Diversity in human sex and gender is not a modern phenomenon, as readers will discover through illustrated stories and records that introduce historical figures ranging from the controversial Roman emperor Elagabalus to the swashbuckling seventeenth-century conquistador Antonio de Erauso to veterans of the Stonewall uprising Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. In addition to these individual profiles, the book explores some of the societal roles played by trans people beginning in ancient times and shows how European ideas about gender were spread across the globe. It explains how the science of sexology and the growing acceptance of (and backlash to) gender nonconformity have helped to shape what it means to be trans today. Illustrated conversations with modern activists, scholars, and creatives highlight the breadth of current trans experiences and give readers a deeper sense of the diversity of trans people, a group numbering in the millions. Extensive source notes provide further resources. Moving, funny, heartbreaking, and empowering, this remarkable compendium from trans creators Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett is packed with research on every dynamic page.
Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett are a creative team and a couple who’ve been together for more than twenty years. They have spent much of their time studying and making art about topics relating to feminist and gender studies. Trans History represents the culmination of a decade of journeying into this topic since they both came out as trans. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
A well-researched, thoughtful, engaging look at trans and gender-nonconforming people through history and from all around the world. This book is very welcoming to newcomers but full of little gems for those of us who have been reading trans histories for years. Combs and Eakett come from within the trans community, and they also pass the mic to many other trans folks of different ages, races, nationalities, and identities to share non-white and non-Western experiences. A beautiful and compassionate primer!
—Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer

About

An essential introduction to trans history, from ancient times to the present day, in full-color graphic nonfiction format. Deeply researched, highly readable, and featuring a broad range of voices.

What does “trans” mean, and what does it mean to be trans? Diversity in human sex and gender is not a modern phenomenon, as readers will discover through illustrated stories and records that introduce historical figures ranging from the controversial Roman emperor Elagabalus to the swashbuckling seventeenth-century conquistador Antonio de Erauso to veterans of the Stonewall uprising Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. In addition to these individual profiles, the book explores some of the societal roles played by trans people beginning in ancient times and shows how European ideas about gender were spread across the globe. It explains how the science of sexology and the growing acceptance of (and backlash to) gender nonconformity have helped to shape what it means to be trans today. Illustrated conversations with modern activists, scholars, and creatives highlight the breadth of current trans experiences and give readers a deeper sense of the diversity of trans people, a group numbering in the millions. Extensive source notes provide further resources. Moving, funny, heartbreaking, and empowering, this remarkable compendium from trans creators Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett is packed with research on every dynamic page.

Creators

Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett are a creative team and a couple who’ve been together for more than twenty years. They have spent much of their time studying and making art about topics relating to feminist and gender studies. Trans History represents the culmination of a decade of journeying into this topic since they both came out as trans. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Photos

additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo

Praise

A well-researched, thoughtful, engaging look at trans and gender-nonconforming people through history and from all around the world. This book is very welcoming to newcomers but full of little gems for those of us who have been reading trans histories for years. Combs and Eakett come from within the trans community, and they also pass the mic to many other trans folks of different ages, races, nationalities, and identities to share non-white and non-Western experiences. A beautiful and compassionate primer!
—Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer
Penguin Random House Comics Retail