Mary Jo Maynes is professor of history at the University of Minnesota. Her recent books include Telling Stories: The Use of Personal Narratives in the Social Sciences and History (2008) and Secret Gardens, Satanic Mills: Placing Girls in European History (2004).Ann Waltner is professor of history and director of the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota. She is a former editor of the Journal of Asian Studies and author of Getting an Heir: Adoption and the Construction of Kinship in Late Imperial China.

• Editors' Preface ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Domestic Life and Human Origins ; Chapter 2: The Birth of the Gods: Family in the Emergence of Religions and Cosmologies ; Chapter 3: Ruling Families: Kinship at the Dawn of Politics (3000 BCE to 1450 CE) ; Chapter 4: Family Dynamics in a Global Frame (1400-1750) ; Chapter 5: Families in Global Markets (1600-1850) ; Chapter 6: Families in Revolutionary Times (1750-1920) ; Chapter 7: Powers of Life and Death: Families in the Era of State Population Management (1880 to the Present) ; Epilogue: The Future of the Family ; Chronology ; Notes ; Further Reading ; Websites ; Index

A thoughtful work that is part of an exciting series, the New Oxford World History. This is very much an American series and reflects the energy of that historical community. Pledged to offer a comprehensive world history that looks over a long timespan, this series provides the basis for an account of the family that begins in 10,000 BCE ... the scholarship is up to date, the judgments pertinent and the writing good. An impressive volume.

Mary Jo Maynes is professor of history at the University of Minnesota. Her recent books include Telling Stories: The Use of Personal Narratives in the Social Sciences and History (2008) and Secret Gardens, Satanic Mills: Placing Girls in European History (2004).Ann Waltner is professor of history and director of the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota. She is a former editor of the Journal of Asian Studies and author of Getting an Heir: Adoption and the Construction of Kinship in Late Imperial China.

• Editors' Preface ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Domestic Life and Human Origins ; Chapter 2: The Birth of the Gods: Family in the Emergence of Religions and Cosmologies ; Chapter 3: Ruling Families: Kinship at the Dawn of Politics (3000 BCE to 1450 CE) ; Chapter 4: Family Dynamics in a Global Frame (1400-1750) ; Chapter 5: Families in Global Markets (1600-1850) ; Chapter 6: Families in Revolutionary Times (1750-1920) ; Chapter 7: Powers of Life and Death: Families in the Era of State Population Management (1880 to the Present) ; Epilogue: The Future of the Family ; Chronology ; Notes ; Further Reading ; Websites ; Index

A thoughtful work that is part of an exciting series, the New Oxford World History. This is very much an American series and reflects the energy of that historical community. Pledged to offer a comprehensive world history that looks over a long timespan, this series provides the basis for an account of the family that begins in 10,000 BCE ... the scholarship is up to date, the judgments pertinent and the writing good. An impressive volume.

Mary Jo Maynes is professor of history at the University of Minnesota. Her recent books include Telling Stories: The Use of Personal Narratives in the Social Sciences and History (2008) and Secret Gardens, Satanic Mills: Placing Girls in European History (2004).Ann Waltner is professor of history and director of the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota. She is a former editor of the Journal of Asian Studies and author of Getting an Heir: Adoption and the Construction of Kinship in Late Imperial China.

• Editors' Preface ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Domestic Life and Human Origins ; Chapter 2: The Birth of the Gods: Family in the Emergence of Religions and Cosmologies ; Chapter 3: Ruling Families: Kinship at the Dawn of Politics (3000 BCE to 1450 CE) ; Chapter 4: Family Dynamics in a Global Frame (1400-1750) ; Chapter 5: Families in Global Markets (1600-1850) ; Chapter 6: Families in Revolutionary Times (1750-1920) ; Chapter 7: Powers of Life and Death: Families in the Era of State Population Management (1880 to the Present) ; Epilogue: The Future of the Family ; Chronology ; Notes ; Further Reading ; Websites ; Index

A thoughtful work that is part of an exciting series, the New Oxford World History. This is very much an American series and reflects the energy of that historical community. Pledged to offer a comprehensive world history that looks over a long timespan, this series provides the basis for an account of the family that begins in 10,000 BCE ... the scholarship is up to date, the judgments pertinent and the writing good. An impressive volume.