“Taps into an enormously important but surprisingly overlooked aspect of the history of American marriage: the (gendered) history of marriages to minors.” — Journal of American History
“The level of nuance in the book’s augmentation is astonishing, and it makes the book highly valuable beyond the history of childhood and youth.” — Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth
“Admirably thorough and detailed. . . . [Syrett] salts the narrative with many historical examples to illustrate his explanations. Highly recommended.” — CHOICE
“[A] comprehensive look at the history of American child marriage.” — Slate
“Calls on us to search for better ways to protect children from child marriage, abusive parents, and a host of other domestic dangers.".” — Journal of the History of Sexuality
“Masterfully fills a void in the study of gender relations and childhood in the United States. Syrett brings the discussion of childhood well out of New England, illuminating important regional, ethnic, and racial variations in the development of children’s rights—and ones that have had lasting consequences.”—Journal of the Early Republic
“Syrett’s treatment of child marriage throughout American history reflects an impressive feat of archival research conducted in numerous American states, and a mastery of a wide array of both legal and nonlegal sources. An engaging book that successfully combines analysis and storytelling, American Child Bride should convince its readers that the histories of marriage and childhood cannot be understood apart from one another.”—Law and History Review
“In this original and timely book, Nicholas L. Syrett tackles the controversial topic of child marriage, recovering child brides' experiences while simultaneously historicizing the cultural discomfort these marriages have provoked. Syrett reveals the complexity in these relationships — some were coercive and violent, but, counterintuitively, others enabled minors to gain agency and challenge the idea of childhood itself. Cogent, brilliantly researched, and rendered in sterling prose, American Child Bride is a major new work in the field of childhood studies.” — Robin Bernstein, author of Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights
“This meticulously researched book explores how changing patterns of youth, adulthood, geography, and gender have shaped American norms and expectations of youthful marriage. Made human by his telling of richly detailed personal stories, Nicholas Syrett’s findings will surprise and likely shock contemporary readers.” — Stephanie Coontz, author of Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage
“American Child Bride is a timely and compelling book. In an era when marriage law and practice once again grab headlines, Nicholas L. Syrett offers us a sweeping history that chronicles changing attitudes and policies toward one of the most persistent yet controversial marital acts: young girls marrying older men. In doing so, Syrett helps us understand the larger social and cultural implications of clashes over marriage in the past and present." — Michael Grossberg, Indiana University Bloomington
