Vol 1 of a study which questions the changing relationship between demonstrated human behavior & structures of control, over time, as it is associated with the concept of civilization. Questioned is whether human behavior or expression changes in a particular direction. With the use of texts on manners, etiquette, & behavioral concepts dating from the Middle Ages through the early modern era, change in social prohibitions is recorded, indicating tendencies toward increased & decreased social differentiation among Western peoples & showing the cumulative social wisdom adapted to the bringing up of children. 

PART I - ON THE SOCIOGENESIS OF THE CONCEPTS "CIVILIZATION" AND "CULTURE" - compares French, German, & English ideas on behavior, culture, manners, courtesy, & speech, & comprises two sections. (1) Sociogenesis of the Difference Between Kultur and Zivilisation in German Usage - notes an antithesis between kultur & civilization, provides literary & other examples of courtly behavior & attitudes, & discusses the German court nobility, the middle class, & the conflict between social & national impluses. (2) Sociogenesis of the Concept of Civilisation in France - discusses the effect upon French culture of participation from early times of the bourgeoisie in government & court circles, a situation opposite from German political administration; eighteenth-century French reforms are analyzed. 

PART II - CIVILIZATION AS A SPECIFIC TRANSFORMATION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR - compares attitudes toward specific behaviors across time as they involve the physical & social functions of existence, ie, eating, sleeping, making war & making love. Specific chapters furnish commentary & advice upon table manners, bedroom etiquette, the eating of meat, dress, as well as upon the performance of specific bodily functions, eg, spitting & nose-blowing. Notes, Appendixes. 

source: Sociological Abstracts, Inc.