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Road to Divorce: England, 1530-1987 First Edition

by Lawrence Stone (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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Lawrence Stone is one of the world's foremost historians. In such widely acclaimed volumes as The Crisis of the Aristocracy, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England and The Open Society, he has shown himself to be a provocative and engaging writer as well as a master chronicler of English family life. Now, with Road to Divorce, Stone examines the complex ways in which English men and women have used, twisted, and defied the law to deal with marital breakdown.
Despite the infamous divorce of Henry VIII in 1529, Britons before the 20th century were predominantly, in Stone's words, "a non-divorcing and non-separating society." In fact, before divorce was legalized in 1857, England was the only Protestant country with virtually no avenue for divorce on the grounds of adultery, desertion, or cruelty. Yet marriages did fail, and in Road to Divorce, Stone examines a goldmine of court records--in which witnesses speak freely about love, sex, adultery, and marriage--memoirs, correspondence, and popular imaginative works to reveal how lawyers and the laity coped with marital discord. Equally important, in tracing the history of divorce, Stone has discovered a way to recapture the slow, irregular, and tentative evolution of moral values concerning relations between the sexes as well as the consequent shift from concepts of patriarchy to those of sexual equality. He thus offers a privileged, indeed almost unique, insight into the interaction of the public spheres of morality, religion, and the law.
Written by the foremost historian of family life, Road to Divorce provides the first full study of a topic rich in historical interest and contemporary importance, one that offers astonishingly frank and intimate insights into our ancestors' changing views about what makes and breaks a marriage.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0198226519
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0198226512
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    December 6, 1990
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    9.55 x 1.44 x 6.48 inches
  8. Print length
    488 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Already recognized as one of the leading modern students of English social history on the basis of works such as The Crisis of the Aristocracy (Oxford Univ. Pr., 1965) and An Open Elite? (Oxford Univ. Pr., 1984) , Stone now brings to bear his ample research skills and incisive analytical abilities in a detailed study of divorce in modern England. This is a study of sexual attitudes, the governance of religion in the affairs of humanity, and law , but most of all it is a shrewd assesssment of moral values. It offers a balanced view of a topic that has long needed a historian, and while the subject alone guarantees controversy, there can be no arguing that the author has plowed new and fertile ground. Essential for all academic collections, this work cuts across a host of disciplines.
-James A. Casada, Winthrop Coll., Rock Hill,
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Offers a grand theoretical overview of changes in attitudes toward marriage and divorce during the course of four-and-a-half centuries....The gossipy tabloid quality of Stone's stories about couples is precisely what gives them their value as historical reconstructions of sex and romance seen through the eyes of their time....Few other historians have so successfully combined analytical and narrative approaches, and few works of history have offered such an intimate and detailed view of the social customs of early modern England."--Commonweal

"Stimulating, instructive and filled with interesting and important questions."--Albion

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; First Edition (December 6, 1990)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 488 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0198226519
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0198226512
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1680L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.17 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.55 x 1.44 x 6.48 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

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Lawrence Stone

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Lindsey Bayless
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting discussion of divorce laws in historical Engaldn
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2014
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Surprisingly readable and enjoyable discussion of reasons why divorce was so rare in England in past times. The changes and dates of changes in divorce law were discussed. I think this would be a valuable addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in English social history.
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An English Gardener
5.0 out of 5 stars Road to Enlightenment
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2009
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Anyone intrigued but a little mystified by the behavior, romantic concerns, and subsequent motivations in matrimonial decisions, of characters penned by Henry Fielding, Jane Austen, the Brontes, and, indeed, authors clear through to Wilke Collins and Thomas Hardy, will find a world of enlightenment in the pages of Lawrence Stone's most worthy book.

Although this and, it must be noted, the two prior works that compose Stone's magnificant trilogy: Uncertain Unions and Broken Lives, are works of brilliant scholarship, they are never a dull read. For, from the whip-tight mind of Stone pours forth page after page of such flawlessly woven statistics, such brightly illuminated narration, that the darkest corner of the marital bedchambre of the past is shown in such stark and, sometimes, harrowing detail, that the only wonder is that anyone ever managed to imagine a "happily ever after" in the first place.

From the abduction of heiresses, the testimony of servants, and the gamble of the crim/con suite, all the way to the fabled Gretner's Green in Scotland, a map of such clarity and intrigue is laid out that one quite forgets that one is head down in scholarship. Rather, one finds one's self galloping headlong through the darkness of raging personal battles long ago fought, and won - or tragically lost - in a maze of thrashing laws and loop holes resembling, to the modern mind, nothing so much as the forest of Mirkwood. But, always and ever, Stone's brilliant torch leads one forward.

From the moment I picked them up, these books were my constant companions. Not the least bit of a legal turn of mind is required; Stone writes with such organization, clarity, and compulsion, that understanding of, and enlightenment to the motivations of 500 years of those who loved - and who lost - is inevitable. Uncertain Unions: Marriage in England 1660-1753Broken Lives: Separation and Divorce in England, 1660-1857
3 people found this helpful
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R. B. Downes
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read and gives the reader perspective
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2011
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Well written and of Great interest to lawyers and all of those who strive to understand some of the underpinnings of our culture
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darlene foster
5.0 out of 5 stars As a funny aside, her husband was a little nervous to ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2018
I became interested in this book when a romance writer sited it in her end notes. She'd used it for historical information regarding divorce in the olden days. As a funny aside, her husband was a little nervous to see this book sitting on her desk. It can be a little dry at times, as historical tomes can be, but stick around for the good stuff. Several real-life divorces are discussed. If you had enough money it was possible to obtain a divorce in jolly old England. Only the husband could apply, the wife wasn't allowed to file. Adultery was the number one reason but several others are mentioned. In one case the husband had all his children declared bastards, he said he doubted they were his. It's a strange ride through the past with shades of our present still visible. It's amazing how long it took the law to catch up with societal changes. In some cases we may still be behind the times.
One person found this helpful
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Leelou Cervant
4.0 out of 5 stars A must have for any writer of historical fiction.
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2015
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A must have for any writer of historical fiction.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Dolly Dressmaker
4.0 out of 5 stars A history of disappointment.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2023
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An interesting academic book, though very dry and pretty heavy going. Purchased as it covers an historical case I am particularly interested in, but as it deals mainly with people going through a pretty terrible time after making pretty terrible life choices, it was never going to be a lightweight beach read. Makes me glad I never married.
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Barb
5.0 out of 5 stars Echoes of our Present Lives
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2015
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Not just history, it makes the reader reflect on how we behave today.
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