A long look at the middle years

Reviews the book, The Prime of Life: A History of Modern Adulthood by Steven Mintz (see record 2015-43205-000). This book achieves the author's aspiration in historically “tracing the changing contours of a life stage” (p. x). Mintz also states two additional goals with this book, first is to show psychologists and sociologists that a historical analysis of the adult years will highlight the significance of sociohistorical embeddedness. The second stated goal is to foster the well-being of contemporary adults. Overall, this book's intellectual scope and wide variety of references make for a great read. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)