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Until quite recently in Britain retirement was possible only for the better-off. Most poorer people, until the mid-twentieth century, worked for survival until they dropped. The rich could always retire when they chose, most others only when required by their occupation or pension scheme. In Britain, externally imposed retirement, with a pension, began in the 19th century in the public service, then spread to cover the whole working population after World War 2, often as a management strategy supposed to improve efficiency. When male manual workers were first obliged to retire they found the sudden transition in their lives an unwelcome shock. Women found it easier because domestic work continued and they generally had closer family and friendship networks to sustain them. Later generations, by the 1960s and 70s learned to look forward to a period of leisure in later life though for many, especially women, it was a life of poverty. But older people were healthier than in the past and often active in voluntary work, caring for grandchildren and others. Retirement ages fell in 1980s and 1990s, then rose again under pressure from government and employers concerned about declining numbers of younger workers and the costs of pensions to growing numbers of older people. ; Until quite recently in Britain retirement was possible only for the better-off. Most poorer people, until the mid-twentieth century, worked for survival until they dropped. The rich could always retire when they chose, most others only when required by their occupation or pension scheme. In Britain, externally imposed retirement, with a pension, began in the 19th century in the public service, then spread to cover the whole working population after World War 2, often as a management strategy supposed to improve efficiency. When male manual workers were first obliged to retire they found the sudden transition in their lives an unwelcome shock. Women found it easier because domestic work continued and they generally had closer family and friendship networks to sustain them. Later generations, by the 1960s and 70s learned to look forward to a period of leisure in later life though for many, especially women, it was a life of poverty. But older people were healthier than in the past and often active in voluntary work, caring for grandchildren and others. Retirement ages fell in 1980s and 1990s, then rose again under pressure from government and employers concerned about declining numbers of younger workers and the costs of pensions to growing numbers of older people.

The prevailing view among historians and contemporaries is that old people were more highly regarded in the past and that old women were regarded more negatively than men. This article questions such simple changes over time and the uniformity and negativity of attitudes in the present. A variety of sources—diaries, letters, biographies, social investigation, and personal testimony—indicate how much can be retrieved about the images and self-images of old women. They suggest how varied these images have been. Older women, rich and poor, could belie and contest negative stereotypes and could be well respected.

The first volume under review is the outcome of a five-day conference held in Italy in July 1989. It was the first gathering of representatives of national historians' associations affiliated to the International Federation for Research in Women's History/Federation International pour la Recherche de l'Histoire des Femmes (IFR WH/FIRHF), or rather of those associations which could afford to send representatives. IFR WH/FIRHF is an Internal Commission of the International Committee of the Historical Sciences. Its purpose, obviously, is to promote the serious study of women in history and the role of women within the profession.