ABSTRACT
The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there. (L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between, 1953)
The way historians write about childhood changes over time and the history of childhood has provided differing interpretations of the lives of children at any one given moment. This is because history is not absolute truth; rather, it is interpretation, and therefore no history of childhood can be seen as fact. While many historians now agree that childhood is a social construct and not an immutable, common experience, they have not always thought in this way; indeed, arguments continue about the experience of the child and the concept of childhood. Such disagreements and changing perspectives are the essence of historical enquiry and result from the nature of history itself. Moreover, discussion and debate are what continue to make history a relevant and vibrant discipline.
