In the first volume of his History of Sexuality, 'The Will to Knowledge', Foucault weaves together the most influential theoretical account of sexuality since Freud. Now, this is the first reading guide to Foucault's dense and sometimes confusing text. Mark Kelly systematically unpacks the intricacies of Foucault's dense and sometimes confusing exposition, in a straightforward way, putting it in its historical and theoretical context. He looks at the book, its structure and philosophical significance, and corrects several key mistranslations in the only available English version of the 'Will to Knowledge'. ; A step-by-step guide to Foucault's History of Sexuality Volume I, The Will to Knowledge. Mark Kelly systematically unpacks the intricacies of Foucault's dense and sometimes confusing exposition, in a straightforward way, putting it in its historical and theoretical context. ; Acknowledgements; Note on Texts; Introduction; 1. Historical Context; 2. A Guide to the Text: Contesting the Repressive Hypothesis (Part One), The Explosion of Discourse (Part Two), The Confessional Science (Part Three), The Analytic of Power (Part Four, Chapters 1–2), The Distribution of Sexuality (Part Four, Chapters 3–4), Bio-Power (Part Five, first half), The Ontology of Sex (Part Five, second half); 3. Study Resources: Glossary, Further Reading, Answering Essay and Examination Questions; Index