Books by John R. Gillis

Humanity has forgotten how to live with the oceans. In this book, a magisterial account of 100,000 years of seaside civilization, the author recovers the coastal experience from its origins among the people who dwelled along the African shore to the bustle and glitz of today's megacities and beach resorts.

Family values are central to our society, but as John Gillis points out in this book, most of our images of home-sweet-home are of a very recent vintage. He questions idealized notions of "the family" and the political construction of family rituals and argues these images must be open to change.