Through detailed comparative analysis of English and Japanese history the book explores such matters as the destruction of war, decline of famine, the control of fertility.

Alan MacFarlane is Professor of Anthropological Science at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of King's College. In 1986 he was elected a Fellow of the British Economy. His previous books include The Origins of English Individualism, (1978) Marriage and Love in England (1986) and The Culture of Capitalism (1987), all published by Blackwell Publishers Ltd.