Books › Marriage, a history
Marriage, a history
First published 2005 · 448 pages
A witty, eye-opening dismantling of everything you thought you knew about love and matrimony.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting in on a masterclass taught by your favorite, most delightfully subversive professor. It moves at a brisk, engaging clip, sweeping you through centuries of human history with a sharp eye for the absurdities of our social norms. The mood is deeply illuminating and intellectually satisfying, replacing the heavy dread of modern culture wars with the refreshing clarity of historical context. The prose is accessible and laced with dry wit, making complex sociological shifts feel as compelling as a good novel. It is a profoundly paradigm-shifting experience, perfect for curious readers who love having their foundational assumptions dismantled and rebuilt, leaving them with a richer, more nuanced understanding of human connection.
- Mood
- illuminating
- intellectual
- thought-provoking
- Tone
- witty
- erudite
- myth-busting
- accessible
- objective
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the invention of romance · evolution of social norms · tension between institution and emotion · historical myth-making
- The writing
- The prose is sharp, accessible, and peppered with dry wit, transforming dense historical research into an engaging narrative.
- The arc
- The reader journeys from a state of assumed familiarity with modern norms into a profound, paradigm-shifting realization of how recently our romantic ideals were invented.
- Who it's for
- Curious minds who love having their cultural assumptions dismantled by well-researched, narrative-driven sociology.
Content notes
- historical sexism
- patriarchal oppression
About the book
Just when the clamor over “traditional” marriage couldn’t get any louder, along comes this groundbreaking book to ask, “What tradition?” In Marriage, a History, historian and marriage expert Stephanie Coontz takes readers from the marital intrigues of ancient Babylon to the torments of Victorian lovers to demonstrate how recent the idea of marrying for love is—and how absurd it would have seemed to most of our ancestors. It was when marriage moved into the emotional sphere in the nineteenth century, she argues, that it suffered as an institution just as it began to thrive as a personal relationship. This enlightening and hugely entertaining book brings intelligence, perspective, and wit to today’s marital debate. “Provocative, erudite and entertaining. What makes this book so important is its honesty and courage. It raises the important debates about marriage in America to a higher level.” —Chicago Tribune “Engrossing... Coontz is at the top of her writing game here.” —The Seattle Times
Description from Open Library.
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