Ulrich Beck is Professor of Sociology at the University of Munich and at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Elizabeth Beck-Gernsheim is Professor of Sociology at the University of Erlangen.

"This is a much-needed attempt to move beyond the accusations of personal failure that resound through what is called the "family values" debate. Trying to maintain close relationships in a modern individualized society, the authors show, is complicated by the gradual decline of the feudal relations between men and women that once structured family life at women's expense. Their depiction of this transformation is one in which we can all recognize our individual struggles, and yet also begin to connect our personal searches, failures and hopes to the larger forces they reflect." Myra Marx Ferree, University of Connecticut "Well argued, coherent and supported by evidence ... [A] sharp and thought-provoking book, which was a real pleasure to read." New Statesman and Society"Stimulating analysis." Work, Employment and Society

• Introduction. 1. Love or Freedom.2. From Love to Liaison.3. Free Love, Free Divorce.4. All For Love of a Child.5. Eve's Late Apple.6. Love, Our Secular Religion.Notes.Bibliography.Index.