Ebook: Friendship: a History

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Preface; Introduction; 1 The Classical Ideals of Friendship; 2 Cicero on Friendship; 3 The Latin West; 4 Renaissance Friendships: Traditional Truths, New and Dissenting Voices; 5 From Christian Friendship to Secular Sentimentality: Enlightenment Re-evaluations; 6 Taking up the Pen: Women and the Writing of Friendship; 7 Class, Sex and Friendship: The Long Nineteenth Century; 8 New Worlds of Friendship: The Early Twentieth Century; 9 The Importance of Friends: The Most Recent Past; Bibliography; Index.;There has been an increasing interest in the meaning and importance of friendship in recent years, particularly in the West. However, the history of friendship, and the ways in which it has changed over time, have rarely been examined. Friendship: A History traces the development of friendship in Europe from the Hellenistic period to today. The book brings together a range of essays that examine the language of friendship and its significance in terms of ethics, social institutions, religious organizations and political alliances. The essays study the works of classical and contemporary author.