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Review : Childish notions

3 August 1996

But if you want to know how things got the way they are, try a
paperback that
dives back to the past. Are we shaped by childhood? The playful nature of the
child enduring into adulthood may be the source of creativity, but what if the
concept of childhood is an artefact? Does this send us back to square one on
creativity? Try to reissue of Philippe Ariès Centuries of Childhood
(Pimlico, £12.50, ISBN 0 7126 7458 6) to discover the roots of
childhood.

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