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Very Short Introductions #589
The History of Childhood: A Very Short Introduction
While children are a relatively unchanging fact of life, childhood is a constantly shifting concept. Throughout the millennia, the age at which a child becomes a youth and a youth becomes an adult has varied by gender, class, religion, ethnicity, place, and economic need. As author James Marten explores in this Very Short Introduction , so too have the realities of childhood, each life shaped by factors such as education, expectation, and conflict (or lack thereof). Indeed, ancient Roman children lived very differently than those born of today's Generation Z.
Experiences of childhood have been shaped in classrooms and on factory floors, in family homes and orphanages, and on battlefields and in front of television sets. In addressing this diversity, The History of A Very Short Introduction takes a global, expansive view of the features of childhood that have shaped childhood throughout history and continue to shape it now. From the rules of Confucian childrearing in twelfth-century China to the struggles of children living as slaves in the Americas or as cotton mill workers in Industrial Age Britain, Marten takes his inspiration from the idea that the lives of children reveal important and sometimes uncomfortable truths about civilization.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Experiences of childhood have been shaped in classrooms and on factory floors, in family homes and orphanages, and on battlefields and in front of television sets. In addressing this diversity, The History of A Very Short Introduction takes a global, expansive view of the features of childhood that have shaped childhood throughout history and continue to shape it now. From the rules of Confucian childrearing in twelfth-century China to the struggles of children living as slaves in the Americas or as cotton mill workers in Industrial Age Britain, Marten takes his inspiration from the idea that the lives of children reveal important and sometimes uncomfortable truths about civilization.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
160 pages, Paperback
Published September 5, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 14, 2022
Did I read basically 75% of the book this morning? Yes. It was for UIUC and the class globalizing issues in education. Large emphasis on childhood.
November 13, 2019
As with all the 'VSI', the author is faced with the problem of focusing on one or two issues or spreading himself/herself too thinly (which is easier to do when the subject is so broad). Here the latter has happened (in my view). There is a lot of interesting information in the book but I would have preferred more detailed information about a smaller group of countries.
December 2, 2019
Interesting in parts
This introduction covers a lot of ground but the deluge of information and data makes it quite dull at times.
This introduction covers a lot of ground but the deluge of information and data makes it quite dull at times.
October 12, 2022
collection of facts
Mostly reads like a loosely organized collection of semi random facts. Too broad and generic. Not focused and selective enough.
Mostly reads like a loosely organized collection of semi random facts. Too broad and generic. Not focused and selective enough.
February 27, 2024
Libro abbastanza inutile.
Delle poco più di cento pagine utili del libro (quelle non occupate da bibliografia e altro), molte sono dedicate se non sprecate per parlare dell'incontro-scontro in generale tra la cultura europea e quelle delle terre colonizzate a partire dall'età moderna, cosa che tocca solo tangenzialmente l'argomento che invece dovrebbe essere centrale, cioè la storia dell'infanzia.
Anche per questo e per la grande ambizione dell'autore di coprire l'intera vicenda dell'infanzia degli esseri umani dalla preistoria(!) ai giorni nostri e toccando tutti i cinque continenti, giocoforza quasi tutto il libro è solo un excursus che procede a grandissime linee e per brevi cenni, in cui si passa troppo rapidamente da un'area geografica o da un periodo all'altro, lasciando insoddisfatto il lettore proprio dove la curiosità viene più stimolata (ad esempio ignoravo del tutto che per un periodo della Cina storica ci fu un culto dell'infanzia paragonabile a quello nostro odierno... ma temo non ne saprò mai di più, perché l'autore vi accenna solo di sfuggita).
Alla fine la maggior parte del volumetto è ovviamente dedicata agli sviluppi degli ultimi due secoli e soprattutto dell'ultimo, ma qui, oltre a non dire molto di nuovo per chi già conosce l'argomento, l'approccio è quasi interamente nell'ottica dell'infanzia in pericolo: sfruttamento sul lavoro, sfruttamento in guerra, mortalità, malattie... insomma, l'infanzia come un mero problema da gestire da parte degli adulti e nulla di più. Solo nelle ultime pagine, viene aperto uno spiraglio sulla cultura dell'infanzia, ma è troppo poco. Inoltre vengono continuamente confuse infanzia e adolescenza, discutibile tendenza del nostro tempo.
Delle poco più di cento pagine utili del libro (quelle non occupate da bibliografia e altro), molte sono dedicate se non sprecate per parlare dell'incontro-scontro in generale tra la cultura europea e quelle delle terre colonizzate a partire dall'età moderna, cosa che tocca solo tangenzialmente l'argomento che invece dovrebbe essere centrale, cioè la storia dell'infanzia.
Anche per questo e per la grande ambizione dell'autore di coprire l'intera vicenda dell'infanzia degli esseri umani dalla preistoria(!) ai giorni nostri e toccando tutti i cinque continenti, giocoforza quasi tutto il libro è solo un excursus che procede a grandissime linee e per brevi cenni, in cui si passa troppo rapidamente da un'area geografica o da un periodo all'altro, lasciando insoddisfatto il lettore proprio dove la curiosità viene più stimolata (ad esempio ignoravo del tutto che per un periodo della Cina storica ci fu un culto dell'infanzia paragonabile a quello nostro odierno... ma temo non ne saprò mai di più, perché l'autore vi accenna solo di sfuggita).
Alla fine la maggior parte del volumetto è ovviamente dedicata agli sviluppi degli ultimi due secoli e soprattutto dell'ultimo, ma qui, oltre a non dire molto di nuovo per chi già conosce l'argomento, l'approccio è quasi interamente nell'ottica dell'infanzia in pericolo: sfruttamento sul lavoro, sfruttamento in guerra, mortalità, malattie... insomma, l'infanzia come un mero problema da gestire da parte degli adulti e nulla di più. Solo nelle ultime pagine, viene aperto uno spiraglio sulla cultura dell'infanzia, ma è troppo poco. Inoltre vengono continuamente confuse infanzia e adolescenza, discutibile tendenza del nostro tempo.
February 7, 2024
I'm not sure what to make of this series/format/book. 140 pages is not "very short." It's actually very small: teeny font on pocket-size pages. And this book is basically a survey of world history (plus prehistory!), so it's not really an "introduction." I think the "Introducing..." cartoon books on various topics do a better job of being short introductions. It does have the novelty of not neglecting children the way many history books do, so that's good.
But I wasn't sure what the key point was. It starts off by boldly stating that Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life, which is perhaps the most famous book about the history of childhood, has been debunked by real historians. So I thought it was going to prove that argument. It's been a very long time since I read Centuries of Childhood, but my general impression of it was that Childhood as we think of it today (a happy time very separate from adult life, dedicated to play and school, etc.) is a relatively modern concept because for most of history there was high child mortality and most children worked at hard jobs alongside adults as soon as they were capable of doing anything useful. But then this book keeps making that exact same observation. So I'm confused. If I can find my old Phillipe Aries book, I'll go back to that and try to clarify.
But I wasn't sure what the key point was. It starts off by boldly stating that Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life, which is perhaps the most famous book about the history of childhood, has been debunked by real historians. So I thought it was going to prove that argument. It's been a very long time since I read Centuries of Childhood, but my general impression of it was that Childhood as we think of it today (a happy time very separate from adult life, dedicated to play and school, etc.) is a relatively modern concept because for most of history there was high child mortality and most children worked at hard jobs alongside adults as soon as they were capable of doing anything useful. But then this book keeps making that exact same observation. So I'm confused. If I can find my old Phillipe Aries book, I'll go back to that and try to clarify.
September 3, 2019
I checked out The History of Childhood: A Very Short Introduction expecting a brief survey of different cultures' perception of what was meant by "childhood," but what I read was a polemical lecture on oppressive governments' (including the U.S. government) attempts to control their populations and the populations of other cultures through control of children. Instead of social anthropology, I got political propaganda. Bottom line: I'm still looking for a good, short survey of differing concepts of childhood across cultures and across history.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews