'[An] excellent book...[Norton's] first concern... is to trace the decline of patriarchy; the growth of free choice of a spouse; the rise of marital equality...the greater equality in educational attainments; the more intense concern of parents for the proper education of children; the greater permissiveness in child-rearing; and the increased cooperation between spouses in birth control...[Her] fascinating documentation, drawn from a vast range of manuscript sources, establishes the facts beyond any reasonable doubt...Norton suggests that the change resulted from... two factors. The first was the practical experience of women during the long years of revolutionary upheaval...The second...was the impact of egalitarian and republican ideology." Lawrence Stone, New York Times Book Review