Man and Wife in America A History Author:Hendrik Hartog Exploring a century and a half of marriage through stories of struggle and conflict mined from case records, Hendrik Hartog shatters the myth of a golden age of stable marriage. He describes the myriad ways the law shaped and defined marital relations and spousal identities, and how individuals manipulated and reshaped the rules of the American ... more »states to fit their needs. Hartog shows how our own conflicts and confusions about marital roles are rooted in the history of marriage and the legal struggles that defined and transformed it. "Hartog is one of our most subtle and insightful legal historians, and a master storyteller. Man and Wife in America argues a stunningly original view of the meanings of marriage in the nineteenth century. A work of history that reads like a novel." —Linda Gordon, author of The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction "The most provocative and compelling volume yet written on the history of American marriage." —Steven Mintz, Journal of American History« less