Into the House of Old

"A concise, crisply written, and convincingly argued book. Davies displays an extremely impressive grasp of the Canadian and international historiography on aging, the family, institutionalization, professionalization, and the gendered dimensions of state social policy." James Struthers, Canadian Studies, Trent University "Elegantly written and thoroughly researched, this book traces the evolution of old age homes from being welfare institutions for the poor in the late nineteenth century to medical institutions for the middle-class by the mid twentieth century, yet a clientele and set of facilities still marginalized within Canadian society and the welfare state. This impressive book convincingly demonstrates the use of studying and doing social history to better understand the past and more fully appreciate our own contemporary policies and practices in caring for the aged. This wonderful book is a rich social history of real people, policies and programs with many valuable lessons and insights for today on who has responsibility for the care of the elderly." Michael J. Prince, Lansdowne Professor of Social Policy, University of Victoria