Childhood in World History

Praise for the first edition:
'Those seeking a primer on the field… might well begin here' H-Childhood, H-Net Reviews
'a succinct and deft survey… Undoubtedly this book will be a godsend to teachers… In the assured hands of Stearns, with his readily accessible style, readers will come away much better informed…' - Social History of Medicine
'Stearns's treatment is characteristically learned, conceptually sleek, and sensitive to societal and temporal variation.' - Journal of Social History
'an engaging, well-written, and thoughtful resource for readers who seek a solid understanding of the subject.' - History of Education Quarterly
Childhood exists in all societies, though there is huge variation in the way it is socially constructed across time and place. Studying childhood historically greatly advances our understanding of what childhood is about and a world history focus permits some of the broadest questions to be asked.
This new edition of Childhood in World History has been completely updated, including:


An expanded discussion of the theory and methodology involved in a global history of childhood


Expanded coverage of childhood in Africa and South Asia


Extra material on religious change, including more discussion of Judaism and Islam


New material on the role of the state


A brand new comparative chapter on happiness and childhood

Now fully up to date, this second edition of Childhood in World History highlights the gains but also the divisions and losses for children across the millennia.

Peter N. Stearns is Provost and Professor of History at George Mason University. He is co-author of Premodern Travel in World History (2008), and author of Globalization in World History (2009), Sexuality in World History (2009), Gender in World History (2nd edition 2006), Consumerism in World History (2nd edition 2006), and Western Civilization in World History (2003), all in this series. His other recent publications include The Global Experience (2005) and World History in Brief (2007).

Preface 1 Introduction: childhood in world history 2 Childhood in agricultural societies: the first big changes 3 Childhood in the classical civilizations 4 Childhood in postclassical world history: the impact of religious change 5 Contacts and Contrasts in the Postclassical World 6 Forces of change and the modern model of childhood: developments in the west, eighteenth century to 1914 7 Alongside the modern model: the pressures of colonialism 8 Modern childhood in Asia: Japan adapts the new model 9 Childhood and communist revolutions 10 Childhood in the affluent societies, twentieth and twenty-first centuries 11 The dislocations in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: children face war and violence 12 Globalization and childhoods 13 The Dilemma of Children’s Happiness 14 Conclusion: childhoods from past toward future