Family Fortunes

Family Fortunes has become a seminal text in class and gender history. Published to wide critical acclaim in 1987, its influence in the field continues to be extensive. It has cast new light on the perception of middle-class society and gender relations between 1780 and 1850.

This revised edition contains a substantial new introduction, placing the original survey in its historiographical context. Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall evaluate the readings their text has received and broaden their study by taking into account recent developments and shifts in the field. They apply current perceptions of history to their original project, and see new motives and meanings emerge that reinforce their argument.

Leonore Davidoff is Research Professor of Social History at the University of Essex. Her numerous publications include Worlds Between (1995) and she has co-authored The Family Story. Catherine Hall is Professor of Modern British Social and cultural History at University College London and has published among many others, Civilizing Subjects (2002) and Cultures of Empire (2000) and White, Male and Middle Class (1992).