Author Description

"In Family and Civilization, the distinguished Harvard sociologist Carle Zimmerman demonstrates the close and causal connections between the rise and fall of different types of families and the rise and fall of civilizations, particularly ancient Greece and Rome, medieval and modern Europe, and the United States. Zimmerman traces the evolution of family structure from tribes and clans to extended and large nuclear families to the smaller, often broken families of today. And he shows the consequences of each structure for the bearing and rearing of children, for religion, law, and everyday life, and for the fate of civilization itself." "Originally published in 1947, this compelling analysis predicted many of today's controversies and trends concerning youth violence and depression, abortion and homosexuality, the demographic collapse of the West, and the displacement of peoples. This new edition, part of ISI Books' Background series, has been edited and abridged by James Kurth of Swarthmore College. It includes essays on the text by Kurth and Bryce Christensen and an introduction by Allan C. Carlson." ""This book was amazingly prescient when it was first published, and, like all genuinely prescient works, its insights into the future derived from a profound comprehension of the past. The republication of one of the twentieth century's most important social scientific works is an event to be celebrated.""--Jacket.