Synopses & Reviews
Family Ties contributes to the academic and popular debate on the family by providing a vivid and accessible exploration of the dynamics of life in English families of all ranks from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of World War I. Organized both chronologically and thematically, and accompanied by sections on methods, approaches, and sources, it explores such fundamental historical issues as cause and effect; continuity and change; and the nature and reliability of evidence. It also examines several important sub-themes, including the history of childhood and of marriage across a broad social and chronological span.
Mary Abbott draws on a rich vein of personal testimony by including extensive contemporary quotations supported by a variety of unusual and, in many cases, previously unpublished illustrations, and a wide range of sources including images, artefacts, and buildings. Family Ties provides fascinating insight into methods of historical investigation and encourages the reader to challenge traditional documentary sources.
Synopsis
Family Ties provides a vivid and accessible introduction to the dynamics of life in English families of all ranks from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of the First World War. Sections on methods, approaches and sources allow readers who are new to the study of the past to explore some of the historian's fundamental concerns.
Synopsis
r s1mily Ties provides a vivid and accessible introduction to the dynamics of life in English families of all ranks from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of World War I. Sections on methods, approaches and sources allow readers new to the study of the past to explore some of the historian's fundamental concerns: cause and effect; continuity and change and the nature and reliability of evidence. The chronological and thematic organization of the book enables readers to examine a number of sub-themes such as the history of childhood or of marriage. Combining extensive contemporary quotations and an unusual variety of illustrations with a wide range of written and material sources, the book provides a fascinating insight into the history of the family and encourages the reader to become a sceptical and imaginative investigator, prepared to venture beyond the historian's traditional documentary sources.