Gender Relations in Early Modern England

A lively introduction, supported by a rich selection of primary sources, to the complexities of gender at a time when English society was turned upside down first by the Reformation and then by the Civil War.

Laura Gowing provides unique insight into gender relations in a time of flux, from the women who tried to vote in Ipswich in 1640, to a grandmother describing the first time her grandson wore breeches. Examining gender relations in the contexts of the body, the house, the neighbourhood and the political world, this comprehensive introduction gives readers both the evidence and the tools to reconstruct the hidden histories of early England.