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"A masterful introduction to a new kind of history, one that looks to the past to illuminate the most basic aspects of contemporary behavior, from parenting practices and consumer behavior to the rise of the hospice and the growing acceptance of oral sex. This is one of those seminal books that radically transforms the way we look at the present and the past."
--Steven Mintz, author of "Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood"

"As always, Peter Stearns stimulates our thinking about history and human experience in important ways. American Behavioral History is unconventional, provocative, and compelling. This collection gives new vigor to the study of social history."
--Joan Jacobs Brumberg, author of "The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls"

"Peter Stearns and his intrepid co-conspirators do not, like other seekers of truth in history, try to understand the past in its own terms. Instead, they try to learn from the past to touch the present and affect the future. One after another, their extraordinary essays suggest that their audacious ambition may be attainable."
--Michael Zuckerman, author of "Almost Chosen People: Oblique Biographies in the American Grain"

Stearns and his colleagues leave us with a compelling sense that we need history to understand ourselves. Without an engaged historical perspective on todays behaviors, prescriptions for social change will not only fail, but leave us vulnerable to quick fixes and moral zealotry, sparking social behaviors--incidentally, with a rich American past--whose history might assist us in our efforts to understand todays cultural and politicalclimate, and, perhaps, begin to change it.
--"Journal of American History"

From his founding of "The Journal of Social History" to his groundbreaking work on the history of emotions, weight, and parenting, Peter N. Stearns has pushed the boundaries of social history to new levels, presenting new insights into how people have lived and thought through the ages. Having established the history of emotions as a major subfield of social history, Stearns and his collaborators are poised to do the same thing with the study of human behavior. This is their manifesto.

American Behavioral History deals with specific uses of historical data and analysis to illuminate American behavior patterns, ranging from car buying rituals to sexuality, and from funeral practices to contemporary grandparenting. The anthology illustrates the advantages and parameters of analyzing the ways in which people behave, and adds significantly to our social understanding while developing innovative methods for historical teaching and research.

At its core, the collection demonstrates how the study of the past can be directly used to understand current behaviors in the United States. Throughout, contributors discuss not only specific behavioral patterns but, importantly, how to consider and interpret them as vital historical sources.

Contributors include Gary Cross, Paula Fass, Linda Rosenzweig, Susan Matt, Steven M. Gelber, Peter N. Stearns, Suzanne Smith, Mark M. Smith, Kevin White.