The Kama Sutra is Britain’s best-known love manual, though relatively few people actually saw the book during its 80-year English publication ban or have bothered to read it since. Sir Richard Burton, the Victorian explorer, linguist, ethnologist, diplomat and soldier (rather than the Welsh actor), is one of history’s most eminent and dedicated manual men. Among his great adventures, he co-discovered Lake Tanganyika, laid the groundwork for the discovery of the source of the Nile and was the first white man ever to penetrate the sacred Islamic inner sanctum of Mecca (he would have been torn apart had his disguise been rumbled). He also claimed to be a bastard descendant of Louis XIV. Burton and his literary sidekick, F.F. ‘Bunny’ Arbuthnot, translated some of India and Persia’s great sex texts into English, though their efforts were almost completely banned during Burton’s lifetime. Their three most important works were the ancient Kama Sutra and the Ananga Ranga, both from India, and Persia’s Perfumed Garden.
