Congratulations to Douglas Pretsell on the publication of Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century (University of Toronto Press). More than 150 years ago, a crucial transition in sexual identity took place in Germany. In 1864, the jurist Karl Heinrich Ulrichs coined the term ‘urning’ to describe same-sex attracted men. He also described the parameters of a fixed and innate sexual identity with sexual object choice at its core. Prior to this point, same sex attracted men in Germany had used names and even personal identities loosely qualified by sexual practice. The ‘urning’ was the first recognisably modern sexual identity where orientation of desire, exercised or not, became central; a crucial step in the move towards public activism. Using the largely unexplored correspondence between Ulrichs and the men who responded to him, this is a scrupulously researched, insightful, and important book. Congratulations, Douglas!