Any good books about [the history of] marriage?

[oiramittedeneb]

Good afternoon,

Well, this thread is not so much to begin a discussion, but to ask if you know of any good/useful books regarding the history of the marriage institution. If by any chance there´s one that does not try to answer anything about the same-sex marriage issue, that´ll be better.

There´s one about Nancy Scott that is specifically about the U.S. but if there could be one that is not country-specific, perfect. Or if it´s not specifically about the history of marriage, but covers the subject in a way you think is helpful, that will do as well.

Context:
My brother is getting in what I now consider is a serious relationship with someone (he is openly gay), and I am (or we are) going to eventually have to speak about it with our parents. I have to find a way to treat the subject because my parents are somewhat conservative and are still very distress by the subject, and I find my brother to be very tactless and selfish when it comes to my parents’ concerns. So I basically became the intermediary when my brother told them he was gay (fun...)
to make things more interesting, none of them know I´m gay jaja

[Pix]

This:

http://www.amazon.com/Women-Celts-Jean-M...0892811501

Part 3 only. It explores (with comparing & contrasting with like Ancient Rome and also modern society) marriage (and love and sex) in the ancient world of the Celts. I don't know how useful you'd find it but I'd think you'd find some fascinating food for thought in it anyway.

Tip: it should be easy to ILL (Inter Library Loan) this by taking the author & title to your local reference librarian (if an ISP is asked for just tell them you couldn't find it), though that might take a month unless the library (including any other libraries linked into it as libraries in the same county tend to be, and btw check to see if they do before requesting an ILL, the librarians like that) already has it. But it's a lot cheaper than buying it. I've seen it in more than one used bookstore as well at a good price, sometimes filed under history, sometimes mythology, and sometimes feminism.