Fifty Shades of Grey may currently be driving handcuff sales, but popular depictions of BDSM have been around since Marquis du Sade got weird in 18th-century France. Sade's descriptions were far more sordid than anything E.L. James dreamt up (a moody millionaire has nothing on a certified torturer). What the inheritor of the sadistic tradition is offering is a beginner's guide to sexual depravity. And that's not nothing. Most people - notably women - want to dip their toes in molten wax before jumping in.

Anyone looking to actual explore the world of bondage should have a bit more perspective - if only so they can consider broader possibilities. Here's the history of people tying each other up for fun. We're intrigued to see what comes next.