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4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating survey of married women through history, 2 April 2001

By A Customer

Drawing on a wealth of diverse sources, from the Bible to the unpublished letters and diaries of women down the centuries, Marilyn Yalom has produced a highly readable account of marriage through the ages.

One of the most noticable features of her work is that, from biblical times until the middle of the 20th century, the position of women in marriage hardly altered. The medieval wife, under the rule of her husband and forever called upon to support his ventures, would have been able to recognise the 1930s' 'angel in the house' whose prime function (as far as her husband was concerned) was to keep house and produce children.

The drawback with this study starts in Yalom's coverage of the 19th century, when she focuses almost exclusively on the lives of American women. On entering the 20th century, it is as if the First World War never happened as she launches straight into the changing roles of women during and after the Second World War.

Despite this, A History of the Wife is intelligently written and will be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the experience and representation of married women thoughout history.

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4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and easy to read history book., 25 Mar 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A History of the Wife (Hardcover)

For anyone interested in social history, especially the development of the family and gender issues, this book is a great read. It is full of real life examples of the changing role of women, which makes it a very easy to read and enjoyable book. It is not heavy going or at all dull. The author uses real letters, diaries and illustrations to bring the history to life, and it is hard not to relate to the lives of the female characters used as examples in the chapters, even though some of them lived centuries ago.

The author begins in Ancient Roman times and brings the subject matter right up to the present day, focusing on the role of women in the family in Europe and North America. The chapters on Medieval and Tudor periods I found particularly interesting, mainly because they clearly show that women in those days did much more than care for the family, and in fact were instrumental in ecomomic and industrial development.

I took a social history module as part of my degree, and have always wanted to find a good introductory book on the development of the family. Highly recommended as an introduction to social and demographic history for non-scholars.

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