“A rigorous critique of theories of thwe family- historical, sociological, psychological- which attemps to provide a framework for a more workable theory… An intellectually demanding work for serious history readers.” -Kirkus Reviews
“An ambitious undertaking (which) examines not only the family as an institution, but prior theories of the family as well… The virtues of Poster’s study are its clarity in an area often beclouded by all sorts of specialized rhetoric; its stress on the discontinuous nature of family history, and the sugggestive, if brief, survey it offers of the historical specificity of the four family types.” -Telos