“Wonderful because of the range and depth of the historical information as well as the theoretical analysis.”
- K. M. McKinley, Cabrini College
K. M. McKinley's review of Reading History Sideways
From CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries 43 (March 2006): 1312.
Reproduced below with permission of the Author.
Family historian and demographer Thornton (Population Studies Center, Univ. of Michigan) argues that the acceptance of a developmental paradigm of unidirectional and positive social change over the last several hundred years has had a profound influence on the direction of social organization. Challenging the methodology of the developmental theoreticians of the 17th and 18th centuries, the author argues that the cross-cultural data gathered by the early social scientists was interpreted historically yet gathered geographically, and that the consequent flawed interpretation of a uniform trajectory for history resulted in "reading history sideways." The profound impact of the developmental narrative on the history of indigenous cultures is described in a wide-ranging overview of social change in family forms and values. Most interesting is Thornton's compilation of the empirical data underpinning the paradigm. He argues that this social science model of developmental idealism, once generated, became a dynamic motivating agent, creating the very conditions it identifies as modern, Western, and progressive. Wonderful because of the range and depth of the historical information as well as the theoretical analysis, the book is a must for all students of family history and the history of ideas. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
-K. M. McKinley, Cabrini College
Publication details for Reading History Sideways: The Fallacy and Enduring Impact of the Developmental Paradigm on Family Life.
