The decades between the close of the Great War and the end of the Thatcher era have changed and challenged family life in England dramatically. The Depression and a Second World War shifted priorities and behaviour, as did the Welfare State, the Pill and Women's Lib later on. What threatened a family's respectability in the 1920s is often commonplace today - abortion, contraception, the single parent family, or gay relationships.
Family Affairs explores the secret life of English families from 1920 to 1990. Mary Abbott takes the reader into her subjects' homes and hearts and provokes us to reflect on families past and speculate on families future. A product of intense original research of primary and secondary sources, this volume is an important contribution to the history of the family. This is an invaluable source for the student of family history as well as anyone interested in this perennially fascinating subject.