There is always fear of what is different but, within that fear is fascination, too. One of the largest cultural dividing lines in history is what is loosely referred to as "east" and "west". And one of the largest cultural taboos is sexual behavior. In The East, The West, and Sex, Richard Bernstein sets out to explore the dynamics of the clash between east and west in matters sexual.There's a lot of nice history here, including some classic encounters described in the writings of men like Burton and Flaubert. Over and over, we get to see how the contact of Europeans guided by supposedly Christian values become enamored of the cultures of the east, from Turkey, Arabia and India to China and Japan. Everything from the harem culture to the simply differing views of relationships gave Western men the opportunity to throw off more restrictive mores, which many of them chose to do.Even more interesting are the encounters of more recent vintage. Soldiers stationed in Japan after World War II had their eyes opened by the "welcome" provide by the government via the women. And the brothels of Viet Nam, of course, are notorious. In their wake, we currently have the sexual tourism of southeast Asia, though it is interesting to see how the women are often able to take advantage of their "boyfriends".In the end, though the history and descriptions are interesting, the reader is left wondering about the roots and reasons of the nature of these erotic encounters. Clearly, there were some solid relationships developed; however, it is difficult to separate the relationships from the influence of colonialism and war. Like any other time connections are made between very different peoples, there are mutually satisfying results as well as clashes from men drunk with sexual freedom, as well as simple misunderstanding. Mr. Bernstein hasn't given us much in the way of answers, but he has given us much to ponder over.