Peter N. Stearns

Excellently written, and a great intellectual dive into shame. Shame is such an integral part of the human experience, and this book fills a gap in the current literature. History is often looked at as a series of events and social experiences, but the nuances are often left by the wayside. Shame is one of those nuances that changes not only from culture to culture, but individual to individual, and can be wielded as a mighty weapon to influence and control others. A must-read for those who show more wish to dive deeper. show less

This book is a thorough examination of sexual beliefs and behaviours across cultures, religions and societies through time. It is an enlightening read that is well written and well sourced with an emphasis on the factual rather than bias. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in sexual practices and sociology.

I love this book! Peter Stearns did a brilliant job of presenting shaming uses and norms in societies past and present, and I love the way he examines the resurgence of shame 's use as a force in today 's social media.

I’m very interested in this topic because I live in Malaysia, a country with a collective and hierarchical culture, which means shame is perceived and used in ways that we don’t really see much of in the West. This really helped me pull together some threads of thought, and show more I am certain that I will be better at my job because of it.

Shame: A Brief History is a well researched beautifully written thought-provoking book! A must read for psychologists, leaders, teachers, parents, managers and anyone interested in human nature.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers through NetGalley and am reviewing voluntarily. show less

A rather hybrid book: it is both about the catch-all concept of 'Western civilization' and about the Western Civ course that has been taught in the US at college level since the 1920s. Stearns outlines how that approach came about and how it evolved and partly eroded. He rightly argues in favor of incorporating the new insights gained in the context of the World History/Global History movement. And he makes an effort to recalibrate the approach. I think Stearns did a creditable effort, but show more at the same time rather half-heartedly, because in the second half the book gets bogged down in an ordinary history course. More in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3088807730 show less