"Which parent should get the custody of a small child? In this compelling story of a bitter struggle over a 2-year old boy nearly 150 years ago, Michael Grossberg shows how Americans developed what were then new solutions to the competing claims of mothers and fathers. Everyone interested in the developing law of child custody in our own time--highlighted in the tormented cases of Baby 'M', Baby Jessica, Baby Michael, and many others not widely publicized--will be fascinated by this book." Linda K. Kerber, May Brodbeck Professor in the Liberal Arts and Professor of History, University of Iowa