I came across a book that looks quite interesting, Marriage, a History, by Stephanie Coontz. This is from the book jacket:
Marriage today is held up as a blissful haven of love and friendship, sex and stability. We long for the gold standard, the traditional marriage, but marriage turns out to have a checkered past. This real look at what people think of as “traditional” finally explains why so many people are so anxious about marriage.
In this groundbreaking book, award-winning historian Stephanie Coontz takes us on journey from the marital intrigues of ancient Babylon to the sexual torments of Victorian lovers …read more