Men have always justified their domination of women by claiming to be the superior sex. But in the bedroom, it is often the men who surrender to these supposedly inferior beings. To save face, men created the temptress: an irresistible woman set on bringing men down.<br>

In this lusciously illustrated exploration of the temptress, Jane Billinghurst looks at reported sightings of temptresses in myth, history, and film, beginning with the original bad girls—Lilith and Eve—and ending with women on top—Mae West and Madonna. In between are mythological menaces, including Pandora, the Sirens, and Medusa; women of influence such as Cleopatra; vamps Theda Bara and Marlene Dietrich; bombshell Jean Harlow; and numerous other bodacious babes. From shadowy, demonic presences to in-your-face performance artists, the images of the temptress reflect the ebb and flow of men’s fears and fantasies throughout history. Billinghurst looks at how women have exploited these fears and fantasies and created a whole new vision. <br> Billinghurst’s sizzling text is accompanied by a sumptuous collection of images, including temptresses in art, photographs and drawings of the most notorious temptresses, and movie stills of the temptress in film, to make this a thought-provoking and tantalizing package.