The engaging and eye-opening story of how we and our ancestors entered the world.

Through the frigid, blurry January weeks after George was born, I found myself suddenly housebound with time to ruminate - though not time to cook or take a shower. When George was peaceful, my mind returned to that nagging question: why is birth so hit and miss after all this time? I needed to put into perspective my own experience. I needed to know what other women, in other cultures, in other times had done.

Birth is a book that will open the eyes of even the most informed experts on the subject. Cassidy looks at every aspect of childbirth - from fathers and mothers to doctors and widwives across the centuries - with admirable objectivity in a work that is utterly gripping, occasionally shocking and essential reading for the human race.