Kinship and Capitalism: Marriage, Family, and Business in the English-Speaking World, 1580-1740 / Edition 1

by Richard Grassby

Overview

This uncompromisingly empirical study reconstructs the public and private lives of urban business families during the period of England's emergence as a world economic power. Using a broad cross-section of archival, rather than literary, sources, it tests the orthodox view that the family as an institution was transformed by capitalism and individualism. The overall conclusion is that none of the abstract models invented to explain the historical development of the family withstand empirical scrutiny and that familial capitalism, not possessive individualism, was the motor of economic growth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521782036
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/27/2000
Series:	Woodrow Wilson Center Press
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.42(w) x 9.37(h) x 1.42(d)

Table of Contents

Tables; Abbreviations; Explanatory notes; Preface; Introduction: models and myths; Part I. Marriage: 1. Making a match; 2. Husbands and wives; 3. Widowers and widows; Part II. The Business Family: 4. Parents and children; 5. Adulthood and old age; 6. Kin and community; Part III. The Family Business: 7. Men in business; 8. Women in business; 9. Inheritance and advancement; Conclusion: capitalism and the life cycle; Appendices; Sources; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"This is one of the most important works on early modern English religion to have appeared for many years." American Historical Review

"...original in conception and well researched and presented...invaluable for understanding the economic and social change that shaped early modern Britain." Journal of Social History

"...a significant contribution..." Renaissance Quarterly

"Grassby's curiosity is quite wide-ranging, and many of the topics covered are handled in a thought-provoking and disciplined manner...a valuable resource that also raises intriguing questions for all interested in the evolution of the premodern business family." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

From the Publisher