Fatherhood and the British Working Class, 1865-1914

Julie-Marie Strange is Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester. She is author of Death, Grief and Poverty, 1870–1914 (Cambridge, 2005). Strange has appeared on Radio 4's Woman's Hour on the subject of fathers, and Thinking Allowed on the working-class Christmas. She also appeared in BBC4's 'A Century of Fatherhood' (Testimony Films).

• Introduction: O father, where art thou?; 1. Love and toil: fatherhood, providing and attachment; 2. Love and want: unemployment, failure and the fragile father; 3. Man and home: the interpersonal dynamics of fathers at home; 4. Front stage values, back stage lives: family togetherness, respectability and 'real' fathers; 5. Funny talk: laughter, family and fathering; 6. The fond father: protection, authority, reconciliation; Conclusion: discovering fatherhood; Bibliography; Index.

'This book is a major contribution to family history and British social history, which will be valued not only for its substantive findings, but for setting new standards in the interpretation of working-class autobiographies. The experience of fatherhood is brought vividly to life, in writing which is lucid and stylish.' John Tosh, University of Roehampton