Girlhood, interdisciplinary and global in source, scope, and methodology, examines the centrality of girlhood in shaping women's lives. Scholars study how age and gender, along with a multitude of other identities, work together to influence the historical experience.

Spanning a broad time frame from 1750 to the present, essays illuminate the various continuities and differences in girls' lives across culture and region--girls on all continents except Antarctica are represented. Case studies and essays are arranged thematically to encourage comparisons between girls' experiences in diverse locales, and to assess how girls were affected by historical developments such as colonialism, political repression, war, modernization, shifts in labor markets, migrations, and the rise of consumer culture.

Introduction by: Jennifer Helgren
Foreword by: Miriam Forman-Brunell
Contributions by: Lenie Brouwer, Christine Cheater, Corrie Decker, Marion den Uyl, S. Duff, E. Thomas Ewing, Jessamy Harvey, Jesse Hingson, Krista Jones, Melissa Klapper, Ann Kordas, Liat Kozma, Fran Martin, Lisa Ossian, Kathryn Sloan, Patricia Sloane-White, Nancy Stockdale, Jan Voogd, Peter Wien