Gottlieb has done readers a great service by synthesizing, in this highly readable book, the growing scholarly literature on the history of the family. The book covers Europe and Colonial America from the onset of the Black Death to the beginning of the Industrial Age, shedding light on the similarities and differences between families of the past and those of today. Family history is still in its infancy, but scholars are coming to agree that the family is a cultural creation. Although we take its forms and practices for granted, nothing in nature makes them inevitable. In this fascinating and growing field, Gottlieb's book will ba a landmark work of scholarly synthesis which communicates to the general reader.