Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500 (Studies In Modern History)

Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500 (Studies In Modern History)

by Hugh Cunningham (Author)

Synopsis

This book investigates the relationship between ideas about childhood and the actual experience of being a child, and assesses how it has changed over the span of five hundred years. Hugh Cunningham tells an engaging story of the development of ideas about childhood from the Renaissance to the present, taking in Locke, Rosseau, Wordsworth and Freud, revealing considerable differences in the way western societites have understood and valued childhood over time. His survey of parent/child relationships uncovers evidence of parental love, care and, in the frequent cases of child death, grief throughout the period, concluding that there was as much continuity as change in the actual relations of children and adults across these five centuries. For undergraduate courses in History of the Family, European Social History, History of Children and Gender History.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 252
Edition: 2
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 03 Mar 2005

ISBN 10: 0582784530
ISBN 13: 9780582784536
Book Overview:

How different is the lifestyle of children today from that 500 years ago? To what extent has the parent-child dynamic altered? Hugh Cunnigham investigates the diverse experiences of Western children throughout the centuries.


Media Reviews

'...a most elegant survey of ideas about childhood and of children's lives in modern western society... a stimulating yet accessible analysis of a part of human experience so difficult for the historian to uncover.'

Lynn Abrams, University of Glasgow, UK

`...necessary reading for those seeking a fuller understanding of modern childhood.'

John Stewart, Oxford Brookes University, UK

In Praise of the first edition:

`...an excellent and accessible starting point.'

Anthony Fletcher, University of London, UK

`Any reader in search of a clear, well-written, and comprehensive account of the history of children and childhood could ask for nothing better.'

Victor Slater, Louisiana State University, USA

Author Bio
Hugh Cunningham is Emeritus Professor of Social History at the University of Kent.