A pioneering new study of nineteenth-century kinship and family relations, focusing on the British middle class, and highlighting both the similarities and the differences in relations between brothers and sisters in the past and in the present.

Introduction ; PART I: EXPLORING KIN AND THEIR KIND ; 1. Kin and Family: Expert Opinions and Popular Views ; 2. Finding Siblings ; PART II: THE LATTICE OF KINSHIP: A HISTORICAL CASE STUDY ; 3. The People and the Setting ; 4. The 'Long Family' and Its Decline ; 5. A Like Unlike: Siblings in Childhood and Youth ; 6. A Dance of Intimacy and Separation: Siblings in Adulthood ; 7. Forgotten Figures: Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews, and Cousins ; PART III: LIFE'S LONGEST RELATIONSHIP: ESSAYS ON SIBLING THEMES ; 8. Sibling Intimacy and the Question of Incest ; 9. The Rise and Fall of Close Marriage ; 10. Gender, Age, and Authority: The case of Anne, William Ewart, and Helen Gladstone ; 11. Sibling Silences: The Freud Family ; 12. Sibling Loss ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index

`Review from previous edition The ideas of sisterhoods and brotherhoods are not new; however, these have seldom involved actual sibling relationships. In this fascinating volume about family relationships in Britain and Europe during a 140-year time span, Davidoff (sociology, Univ. of Essex, UK) examines those consanguineal relations so often passed over by historians.' S. J. Zuber-Chall, CHOICE `A fascinating study of the networks that large, middle-class, professional families established in the long 19th century.' Auriol Stevens, Times Higher Education Supplement `Historians and general readers alike will relish this book.' Jane Hamlett, History Today `An intriguing read.' Who Do You Think You Are? `A compelling and pathbreaking exploration of the neglected subject of siblingship. Hugely illuminating, informed by profound and broad scholarship, and also wonderfully readable, it is a work that will be of interest to historians and social scientists of all persuasions.' Janet Carsten, University of Edinburgh `Davidoff succeeds in demonstrating both the strangeness of the past and its relevance to the contemporary world where in the absence of a range of siblings young people begin to think of their friends as part of their family.' Hugh Cunningham, Journal of Social History

A major study of the long-neglected area of sibling relations in the 'long nineteenth century', from 1780 to 1920 Uses a wide selection of source material - from oral histories to census material - in addition to traditional documentary records Operates at many levels different levels: psychological, demographic, social, economic, and cultural Illuminates how the reduction in family size since the turn of the twentieth century has affected relations between brothers and sisters

A major study of the long-neglected area of sibling relations in the 'long nineteenth century', from 1780 to 1920 Uses a wide selection of source material - from oral histories to census material - in addition to traditional documentary records Operates at many levels different levels: psychological, demographic, social, economic, and cultural Illuminates how the reduction in family size since the turn of the twentieth century has affected relations between brothers and sisters