This book is a short but comprehensive survey of the work on the history of the family in Western Europe and North America, for the period 1500-1914. Updated to include material published between 1980 and 1994, it aims to provide students of family history with a structured and balanced critique of and guide to the huge literature on the subject. Professor Anderson focuses particularly on the strengths and limitations of different approaches that have been adopted in the discipline, and seeks connections among themes, countries and periods.