Hopes for Better Spouses

Gita Dharampal-Frick
-- University of Heidelberg
"A scholarly tour de force that ingeniously interrogates the theological discourse around the seminal institution of marriage. A. G. Roeber interconnects with empirical dexterity sociological developments across the expanse of three continents, with influences ranging from polygamy to pietism during the early modern epoch. A refreshingly insightful comparative study."

Richard J. Ross
-- University of Illinois
"Roeber sensitively reconstructs debates over marriage within the early modern international pietist movement. He brilliantly synthesizes theology, popular religion, and the day-to-day experience of married life. His story is resolutely transnational, at once embracing theologians at the University of Halle, immigrants in the backcountry of British North America, and pastors in German missions in India. . . . This is a historical work of immense learning, broad reach, and enduring relevance."

Hartmut Lehmann
-- University of Kiel
"Hopes for Better Spouses makes for fascinating reading at a time when half of all marriages end in divorce. With deep erudition Roeber recounts the struggle of pietists in vastly different societies -- early modern Germany, British North America, and South India -- to find lasting solutions for the bond between husband and wife, and he sketches the consequence of these attempts for modern conceptions of marriage."

Lutheran Quarterly
“This excellent study is everything that we are accustomed to getting from historian Roeber; it is intelligently conceived, meticulously researched, well written, and engaging in its presentation. . . . A fine and important book.”