A History Of Childhood Children And Childhood In The West From Medieval To Modern Times Heywood by Heywood, Colin 9780745617312, 9780745617329, 9780745656816, 9780745656830, 074561731X, 0745617328, 0745656811, 0745656838 instant download after payment.

In this lively and accessible book, Colin Heywood explores the changing
experiences and perceptions of childhood from the early Middle Ages to
the beginning of the twentieth century. Heywood examines the different
ways in which people have thought about childhood as a stage of life,
the relationships of children with their families and peers, and the
experiences of young people at work, in school and at the hands of
various welfare institutions. The aim is to place the history of
children and childhood firmly in its social and cultural context,
without losing sight of the many individual experiences that have come
down to us in diaries, autobiographies and oral testimonies.

Heywood
argues that there is a cruel paradox at the heart of childhood in the
past. On the one hand, material conditions for children have generally
improved in the West, however belatedly and unevenly, and they are now
more valued than in the past. On the other hand, the business of
preparing for adulthood has become more complicated in urban and
industrial societies, as the young face a bewildering array of choices
and expectations.

A History of Childhood will be an essential introduction to the subject for students of history, the social sciences and cultural studies.