This book offers an exhilarating tour of the subject by exploring its changing nature from ancient to modern times. Her encounters with Cleopatra, Abelard and Heloise, and Romeo and Juliet are edifying. A section on the ideas of love includes some heady discussions of Stendahl, Proust, and Freud. Ackerman picks up speed when she tackles the erotics of love with pieces on women and horses, men and cars, and the sensuality of looking. Ackerman's wild imagination savors the great intangibles of love.