This concise and much needed introduction provides an overview of the state of research on women's history in the early modern period. It encompasses a guide to the historiography, an examination of the major debates, and information about the varied sources available for women's history in this period. Arranged around familiar themes- the family, work, religion, education- the book presents a comprehensive and informative survey of the social, economic and political position of women in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.