Youth and Authority: Formative Experiences in England 1560-1640 [Hardcover]

In this new work, Paul Griffiths surveys the attitudes and activities of young people, examining their reaction to authority and to society's concept of the `ideal place' for them in the social order. He sheds new light on issues as diverse as juvenile delinquency, masculinity, sexual behavior and courtship, clothing, catechizing, office-holding, and church seating plans. His research reveals much about the nature of youth culture, religious commitment, and master/servant relations, and leads to the identification of a separate milieu of `masterless' young people.

Griffiths has produced a stimulating, carefully argued study that demolishes the views of those who contend that the idea of youth did not come into being until after the period addressed by this fine book. --CHOICE

[A]n extensively researched and well-written book. --The Journal of Social History

There is much fascinating material here...[T]he book provides a subtle and sophisticated understanding of the experiences of youth in early modern England...[Griffiths] captures a sense of the humanity of the young men and women who fill his pages. --Modern Europe