Disappointing. The early days of the gay rights movement are understandably difficult to research due to their lack of coordination, but the disorder, miscommunication, and intrigue spill over into Duberman's writing. Despite the impressive amount of research, the writing is often speculative and gossipy. If he has so many facts, why stoop so low as silly rumors, such as the baseless assertion that Jim Fouratt slept with Jim Morrison, or that drugs addled Marsha P. Johnson's brain? I laughed out loud at the phrase "Perhaps that was exactly..." which is akin to saying "Theres a 60% chance that it's already raining." And the sentence: "'An omen, an omen! She's on our side!' was the nervous chorus in a thousand apartments across the city," can have no root in fact at all. Who is "she"? What thousands? The only value I can see in this book is its reflection of gay attitudes toward history during Martin Duberman's day, 1993. More of a gossip rag than a history. Disappointing.