""Little Red Riding Hood" is perhaps the best known fairy tale of all time. Featuring a cross-dressing wolf and his hapless victim, this strange tale has been passed from generation to generation, printed in thousands of storybooks and told in virtually every language. But where did the story of the girl, her grandmother and their cruel fate come from? And why does it continue to grip us?".

"In Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked, Catherine Orenstein unravels the complex sexual politics, moral ambiguities and philosophical underpinnings of Red Riding Hood's epic journey to her grandmother's house. From the werewolf trials of France's old regime to twentieth century feminists and gender-benders, Orenstein traces the many lives the tale has lived and explores how, from the nursery on, fairy tales shape and reflect our view of the world."--BOOK JACKET.