Education, according to Aldrich (emeritus, Institute of Education, U. of London, UK) is both a public and private good and that it has always exhibited public and private dimensions. In these 10 papers, he and other contributors examine these interactions over the course of British history with the assumption that such an examination can shed light on current debates over the course of education in the UK. Separate chapters look at the broad contours of these questions in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Subsequent papers look at issues of gender and knowledge, specifically examining such topics as the balance of public and private in early education and childcare, the development of sex education, the domestic education of girls, and the public/private distinctions between "history of the family" and "family history." The final three papers offer comparative examinations of the U.S. and Australia, and reflect on public/private issues in "globalized" education. Distributed in the US by Taylor & Francis. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
