In the center of the book are the key problems of the social history of the family of Western and Central Europe of the last two centuries. The most important trends in the historical development of the family have been investigated with equal thoroughness and depth. (separation in the space and time of family life and work, the collapse of the patriarchal tradition of "the whole house" and the expansion of the autonomy of the family, which took its place in the private sphere of social life, the evolution of the system of relations between family and society) and indisputable aspects of family life (choice of spouse, marriage behavior, raising children, attitude to old age, sexuality before marriage and in marriage). A typology of historical species of the family is given. The question of the prospects for the development of the family in the conditions of the "post-industrial" society is specially investigated. Reinhard Sieder, a well-known specialist in family history, an employee of the Institute for Economic and Social History in Vienna, presents with brightness and depth the results of many years of work in the field of "historical family research" - one of the branches of social history.