Old Age in English History: Past Experiences, Present Issues. By Pat Thane. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Pp. x, 536. £42.00.

Extract

Twenty-five years ago, when I chose the history of old age as my dissertation field, many found it odd, dubious, often snigger-inducing. Why select such a marginal subject? What hang-ups did this young man harbor? We have moved on a good deal since then: ageing has become a preoccupation of developed societies, and the study of its past has mushroomed as worry about its future has spread (neither Thane nor I would say “deepened”). A substantial body of research has been built up on the history of old age in England—just how much is very well demonstrated in the rich footnotes and the 20-plus pages of bibliography in this book. But until now no one has tried to pull it all together, and that has been a particular drawback for those of us who teach on the subject. My students in family-history courses, for example, know that they should include the elderly in their family studies, yet have been frustrated when they have tried to do so.