Winner, J. Russell Major Prize, American Historical Association
Winner, Frances Richardson Keller-Sierra Prize, Western Association of Women Historians
Winner, Charles E. Smith Award, European History section of the Southern Historical Association

This groundbreaking study examines complex notions of paternity and fatherhood in modern France through the lens of contested paternity. Drawing from archival judicial records on paternity suits, paternity denials, deprivation of paternity, and adoption from the end of the eighteenth century through the twentieth, Rachel G. Fuchs reveals how paternity was defined and how it functioned in the culture and experiences of individual men and women.

"A masterpiece in French social, cultural, and gender history."--Lenard Berlanstein, University of Virginia

"Fuchs opens up a new window into the history of families by perceptively examining the legal and customary ways that paternity was negotiated in French society from the old regime to the present."--Robert A. Nye, Oregon State University

"Fascinating in every particular . . . One of the most important aspects of Contested Paternity is the way in which Fuchs uses the history of paternity suits as a way to analyze changing attitudes towards fatherhood, motherhood, and childhood."--H-France

"A compelling study that examines the epochal shift in French fatherhood over the past two centuries."--American Historical Review

"A tour de force on the history of family law in France from the eighteenth century to modern times."--French Studies

"Fuchs's treatment of the theme of constructions of paternity is stimulating, clear, and yet highly refined . . . With her considerable methodological expertise as a social historian of France, she weaves an exceedingly colorful picture of disputes around paternity."--French History

Rachel G. Fuchs is a professor of history at Arizona State University.