Historians of the colonial era who are predominantly interested in social history, especially those who study the lives of children, set themselves a difficult task. With a thin trail of traditional historical documentation at hand, they must reach for alternative sources, such as the literature of captivity narratives, or tricky methodologies, including the history of emotions. Jason Eden, a historian, and Naomi Eden, a gerontologist and marriage and family therapist, suggest that psychology, and, in particular, insights about the human life course, can shed light on the colonial past. Theirs may well be a fruitful avenue of interdisciplinary research, but unfortunately, the Edens’ monograph does little to move the conversation forward.
Age Norms and Intercultural Interactions in Colonial North America is largely an overview of secondary scholarship about the life course as experienced by Europeans, African slaves, and Native Americans in the colonial period. Although the Edens incorporate some historical...