description: Historian John Boswell argues persuasively that child abandonment was a common and morally acceptable practice from antiquity until the Renaissance. Boswell examines evidence that parents of all classes gave up unwanted children, "exposing" them in public places, donating them to the church, or delivering them in later centuries to foundling hospitals. 17 photos.
language: English
title: The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance
titlecomplete: The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance
genres: Historical, History, Sociology, Ancient History, Childrens, Medieval History, European History, Microhistory, Nonfiction, Medieval
ratings_count: 133
publisher: Random House Value Publishing