Reproductive Rituals: The Perception of Fertility in England from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century

This book discusses strategies and techniques for family planning ("perception of fertility") in a specific community, per the title -- including addressing the apparently controversial question, "Was there family planning before the Pill?". Among the points of particular interest for me was one about an historical perception that if a woman didn't enjoy the sexual encounter she wouldn't get pregnant. The author discusses the different schools of thought on fertility and gestation (is it all up to Dad? Is it fifty-fifty? Is it actually only Mom who contributes?) and how each contributed/affected perceptions on fertility plus and minus, how to get pregnant, how not to get pregnant. I'd been exposed to the idea that some philosophers held it was all up to the dude, the woman was just the test tube; so this exploration intrigued me. Of particular interest to me was the history provided of the controversy specific to the period covered by the book over when human life begins and how the perception of the moment-of-life was exploited by a technical medical community concerned about whether that was something for individual women to know (quickening) or for medical men to decide. I recommend this book for people who are interested in the development of current controversies surrounding a woman's right to choose. (I also just plain enjoyed the prose style, so I enjoyed the reading as well as the learning.)