Description: The main theme of this text is the importance of gender to mainstream history and, specifically, to the major themes of 19th century European history, such as nationalism, liberalism and socialism. It covers the period from the French Revolution to the end of the First World War. Organized both chronologically and thematically, it takes as its central theme the issue of gender and citizenship during the late 18th-century revolutionary period and in 19th-century developments concerning work, urban and domestic life, national politics, and imperialism. The book explores the question of sexual differences in relation to class, ethnicity and race, and the development of key historical debates about identity, work, home, politics, and citizenship in specific national contexts across Europe. At the same time, it provides the general reader with information about the social and political contexts in which those debates arose. Intended both as an introductory work for college students and one that offers new interpretations and discussions for scholars in the field, this study is a synthesis, bringing together the extensive but often fragmented literature on gender in European history.
Brief description: Barbara Caine is Head of the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, Australia.