Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage

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.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 02/28/2006
ISBN: 9780143036678
Pages: 432
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 8.44h x 5.60w x 0.97d

Review Citations: New York Times 05/14/2006 pg. 36
Newsweek 04/19/2010 pg. 24