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A History of Love and Power
by Augustine Sedgewick
A bold and original history of fatherhood, exploring its invention and transformation from the Bronze Age to the present through a collective portrait of emblematic fathers who have helped to define how the world should be ruled and what it means to be a man.
Fatherhood is one of the most meaningful aspects of human culture, but we know little about when or where fatherhood first emerged, or even how or why. Despite its enigmatic beginnings, fatherhood has, for centuries, given shape to ideas about the world, defined human experiences, and provided the foundation of patriarchy. The history of fatherhood is not just the story of one of humanity's great values: caring for those who cannot care for themselves. And it is not merely the story of patriarchy—"the power of fathers"—which is arguably the oldest and most widespread form of social hierarchy and political oppression. It is the story of how these twin strands of history became so entangled that they are often indistinguishable.
In Fatherhood, celebrated historian Augustine Sedgewick explains how this style of parenting emerged in the first place, why it has changed over time, and whether it will endure as we know it, despite its extraordinary costs. Told through the lives of emblematic fathers like Aristotle, Saint Augustine, Henry VIII, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud, this is an ambitious yet intimate look at how masculinity has evolved and how men have come to hold disproportionate power by expanding and reinforcing the power of fathers in times of crisis.
Sedgewick, acclaimed for his "literary gifts and prodigious research" (The Atlantic), takes us from the Bronze Age to the present to revolutionize our understanding of fathers and challenge the fictions that have surrounded them for centuries. Fatherhood transforms our understanding of this fundamental idea, experience, and institution, allowing us to better know our past and re-envision our common future.
"Sharp...Augstine Sedgewick is an undeniably talented prose stylist with estimable dot-connecting abilities...this book engages in interesting ways with assumptions about fathers of nations, faiths, and families." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] winsome and erudite study of patriarchy...Sedgwick teases out the contradictions between patriarchy as a doctrine of benevolent control and its reality as a form of constraint and domination that often breeds resistance. He plays on these ironies in elegant, evocative prose...It's fresh and insightful meditation on the paternal dilemma." —Publishers Weekly
"Sedgewick describes how thinking about dads has changed over time. What is striking is the sheer variety of nonsense that people have believed ... [but he] concludes on a personal note. When he asks his young son what a father should be, the boy replies that a dad should be 'funny and good at hugging.' As parenting advice goes, that is hard to beat." —The Economist
"What is a father, exactly? To answer this question, Augustine Sedgewick cracks open the lives of those before him, nearly all predating the great feminist thinkers who guide his inquiry. Absorbing, rigorous, and profoundly moving, Fatherhood is an exquisite narrative history that offers new ways of thinking about masculinity and the modern family." —Kate Bolick, author of Spinster
"We have mainly relied on feminist theory to tell the difficult truth and harms of patriarchy, but Fatherhood adds to that important canon. It is an invigorating, impressively researched, and honest read. Anyone doing the work of dismantling and reframing the heavy role of the father will find something here." —Raymond Antrobus, author of Signs, Music
This information about Fatherhood was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Augustine Sedgewick is the author of Coffeeland, winner of the 2022 Cherasco International Prize and a New York Times Editors' Choice selection. He earned his doctorate at Harvard University, and his research on the global history of capitalism, work, food, and family has received fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, among others. Originally from Maine, Sedgewick lives in New York City with his son.
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