A HISTORY OF PRIVATE LIFE. V. RIDDLES OF IDENTITY IN MODERN TIMES.

Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap / Harvard University Press, 1991. 630 pp, 9 3/8" H. Profusely illustrated with b&w photographs and reproductions, colour plates. "(Charts) the remarkable inner history of our times from the tumult of World War I to the present day, when personal identity was released from its moorings in gender, family, social class, religion, politics, and nationality. Nine brilliant and bold historians present a dynamic picture of cultures in transition and in the process scrutinize a myriad of subjects - the sacrament and confession, volunteer hotlines, Nazi policies toward the family, the baby boom, evolving sexuality, the history of contraception, and ever-changing dress codes." Chapter headings: Public and Private Spheres in France (Introduction / Changing Workers and Workplaces / The Family and the Individual / The Transition from Neighborhood to Metropolis); A History of Secrets? (The Secrets of History and the Riddle of Identity / Family Secrets / The Body and the Enigma of Sex); Cultural Diversity in France (Catholics: Imagination and Sin / Communism as a Way of Life / French Judaism / The Role of Immigrants); Nations of Families (The Rise and Fall of the Swedish Model / The Italian Family: Paradoxes of Privacy / The German Family between Private Life and Politics / Myths and Realities of the American Family). Minor wrinkling at the top and bottom of the spine. Dust jacket has minor wear at the top and bottom of the spine and flap-folds.. First American Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good+.