Early Modern Spain: A social History explores the solidarities which held the Spanish nation together at this time of conflict and change. The book studies the pattern of fellowship and patronage at the local level which contributed to the notable absence of popular revolts characteristic of other European countries at this time. It also analyses the Counter-Reformation, which transformed religious attitudes, and which had a huge impact on family life, social control and popular culture.
Focusing on the main themes of the development of capitalism, the growth of the state and...

The History of the Family concerns the changing interactions between family and social, political and religious structures over the last thousand years of European history. The family is usually described in terms of patterns of kinship, inheritance, and relations between sexes and generations. The author examines the contemporary use of these terms and their evolution from nineteenth-century anthropology and social thought. He then considers how these concepts apply to and reveal the nature of European and other societies.