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Rory Muir's book "Love and marriage in the age of Jane Austen" provides a detailed exploration of courtship, marriage, and relationships in the upper echelons of society during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Muir weaves examples from Jane Austen's novels with real-life stories of prominent figures, shedding light on the complexities of love and marriage during this era. The book delves into various aspects of courtship, marriage settlements, weddings, and the challenges faced by couples, including unhappy marriages, separations, and divorce. While Muir's account is rich in historical detail, some aspects of the legal framework and historical context could have been further explored to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the period. [Extracted from the article]

Saumya Saxena, Divorce and Democracy: A History of Personal Law in Post-Independence India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), xv + 366 pp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Gender of Capital: How Families Perpetuate Wealth Inequality" by Céline Bessière and Sibylle Gollac, translated by Juliette Rogers, explores the resurgence of inheritance and family wealth transmission as key determinants of social class in capitalist societies. The authors challenge traditional views that inheritance was becoming obsolete, highlighting how family wealth plays a crucial role in shaping life chances, especially for women. Through detailed case studies and statistical analysis, they reveal how gender biases within legal and financial systems perpetuate wealth disparities, resembling practices seen in the Algerian Family Code. The book offers a critical examination of the gendered distribution of wealth and calls for a reevaluation of the role of family in class reproduction. [Extracted from the article]

"The Rule of Manhood: Tyranny, Gender, and Classical Republicanism in England, 1603¿1660" by Jamie A. Gianoutsos explores the intersection of gender studies and seventeenth-century history and political thought. The book argues that classical republican ideals of masculinity played a significant role in opposing the Stuart monarchy and legitimizing the republic and the Protectorate. Gianoutsos examines the circulation and reception of classical texts among a wider, vernacular public, highlighting the political resonance of episodes in Roman history and their implications for gender politics. The book also analyzes the role of masculinity in the politics of the revolutionary period, focusing on figures like John Milton, Marchamont Nedham, and Oliver Cromwell. Overall, the book offers fresh insights into neglected political aspects of seventeenth-century literature and challenges revisionist historiography. [Extracted from the article]

Barbara Alpern Engel's book, "Marriage, Household, and Home in Modern Russia: From Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin," offers a comprehensive examination of the marital and domestic practices in Russia from the late seventeenth century to the early twenty-first century. The book explores how gender norms and authorities influenced the intimate lives of Russians in different social, economic, and political contexts. It also highlights the experiences of women, marriages, families, and households, emphasizing the importance of gender history in understanding Russian history. While the book provides valuable insights, it does not discuss intermarriage or same-sex unions, which are significant aspects of Russian society. Nonetheless, the book is a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in Russian and gender history. [Extracted from the article]

This article reviews two recent monographs on the topic of divorce in India and China. The first book, "Divorce and Democracy" by Saxena, provides a history of personal law in post-independence India, focusing on Hindu, Muslim, and Christian personal law. The second book, "Marriage Unbound" by Ke Li, examines the experiences of migrant women seeking divorce in rural China. Both books highlight the gender inequalities and challenges faced by women in accessing divorce and navigating the legal system. They also explore the ways in which the regulation of marriage and divorce can be used as a tool of state-making and give rise to public debate. [Extracted from the article]

In "North Korea's Mundane Revolution: Socialist Living and the Rise of Kim Il Sung, 1953–1965," Andre Schmid explores the efforts of the North Korean people to create a new way of life after the armistice. Schmid utilizes a range of sources, including memoirs, articles, advertisements, and photographs, to examine how individuals and groups sought to build a utopia of material comfort, security, and equality. The book highlights the tensions and contradictions that arose during this period, as well as the public discussions and critiques that were possible. Schmid's work provides valuable insights into a time when a different future for North Korea seemed possible. [Extracted from the article]

Courtney Ann Irby's book, "Guiding God's Marriage: Faith and Social Change in Premarital Counseling," explores Christian marriage preparation programs and how they respond to cultural changes. Irby argues that these programs socialize participants into beliefs and practices that aim to create "happy, healthy, and holy lives." The book examines the historical trajectory of premarital programs, their content, and the differences between Catholic and evangelical programs. While the book's data is limited to the Pacific Northwest and lacks diversity, it offers valuable insights into the transformation of religious communities and their contributions to cultural change. [Extracted from the article]

Angela Hug's book "Fertility, Ideology, and the Cultural Politics of Reproduction at Rome" delves into the concept of fecunditas in Roman society, exploring its significance in the private and public lives of women and men. The book examines the association of fecunditas with women, the challenges faced by childless couples, and the societal implications of fertility. Hug's thorough research sheds light on the complex interplay between fecunditas, gender roles, and state politics in ancient Rome, making it a valuable resource for historians and scholars interested in Roman culture. [Extracted from the article]

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Kesselring and Stretton's monograph is now required reading on the English history of separation and divorce. Marriage, Separation & Divorce in England, 1500-1700 by K. J. Kesselring and Tim Stretton Their answer involves England's common-law custom of coverture and its "uncommon way of dealing with marital property", as reflected in early modern England's secular courts, which have been neglected by those studying marital separations and divorce (2). [Extracted from the article]

In eight thematic chapters, O'Riordan brings to life the world of women either born or married (or both) into the landed elite of Ireland. In I Women of the Country House in Ireland, 1860-1914 i , Maeve O'Riordan makes a noteworthy contribution to the history of women and of the landed elite in Ireland from the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. O'Riordan's attention to the emotional lives of her subjects as they experience marriage and childrearing sheds new light on what we think we know about the landed elite in Ireland. [Extracted from the article]

In the book review of "Family Matters in Indian Buddhist Monasticisms" by Shayne Clarke, the author challenges the common belief that Buddhist monastics completely abandon their families upon ordination. Clarke argues that many monastics maintain connections with their families throughout their religious lives. The book examines various aspects of familial concern in monasticism, including examples of monastics who live at home, eat/stay with their families, and ordain together with family members. Clarke also explores the role of marriage, divorce, and pregnancy in monastic life. The review praises Clarke's exegesis of Vinaya texts and his larger claims about the interpretation of monasticism and Buddhism. However, it also notes that some of Clarke's conclusions may be overstated. Overall, the book provides valuable insights into the study and interpretation of Indian Buddhist Vinaya texts, challenging assumptions about asceticism and renunciation. [Extracted from the article]

As the author of a potboiler on Henry VIII 50 years since, he is excessively confident (p. 127): Divorce had been baked into the British monarchy by King Henry VIII who devised the Church of England to make it possible. English history never experienced King Robert (eldest son of William the Conqueror); Henry II's son Henry was called King but never inherited; Edward the Black Prince predeceased his father Edward III; Edward IV's son Edward disappeared in the Tower before coronation; James I (and VI) survived another eldest son Henry; George II lost his son poor Fred thus unleashing Fred's eldest as a very youthful George III; Edward VII outlived his potentially disastrous elder son Albert Victor; and George V's eldest son was Edward VIII, but only briefly. The clearest proof of George VI's having saved a monarchy endangered by Edward VIII is the ex-King and wife bomb-dodging, self-serving, friend-dropping at any sign of their own personal danger, while George's Queen flatly stated their own personal policy of remaining throughout Battle of Britain, Blitz, and the long siege of the island: 'The children can't go without me. I won't leave the King, and of course the King won't go'. [Extracted from the article]

Bushy Berkeley choreographed a series of I Gold Diggers i movies that Donovan analyzes through the lens of feminist film theory to expose the centrality of lawsuits to their plots. Donovan represents the subsequent case of Anna Nicole Smith, stripper-turned celebrity, as refurbishing the gold digger for neoliberalism, for an era of what became known as "sugar daddy capitalism" (p. 191). Donovan astutely notes: "For feminists, gold diggers represented a capitulation to the idea that men were economically responsible for women. [Extracted from the article]

One may note, for instance, how the concepts "secularization" and "Islamism" were central for Ebert's description in 1996 of legal developments over the 19th and 20th centuries, while, in 2020, they are absent from sub-chapter titles and the main text, where Ebert focuses instead on the "religious legal divisions" of the region's dual legal regimes. Hans-Georg Ebert, I Islamisches Familien-und Erbrecht der Arabischen Länder: Herausforderungen und Reformen, i Leipzig Middle East Studies; Band 1 (Berlin: Frank & Timme, 2020), ISBN: 978-3-7329-0633-8, 208 pp., €39.80 The title of the publication at hand can be translated as I The Islamic Law of Family and Inheritance in Arabic Countries: Challenges and Reforms i . Islamisches Familien-und Erbrecht der Arabischen Länder: Herausforderungen und Reformen, written by Hans-Georg Ebert. [Extracted from the article]