Our recent economic prosperity has masked the devastation of the American family, which is now under siege as never before. From the dramatic rise in illegitimacy, divorce, and single parenthood to the call for the recognition of gay marriages, the traditional nuclear family is being radically challenged and undermined, along with the moral and legal consensus that once supported it.Now in "The Broken Hearth," William Bennett, America's foremost conservative spokesperson on matters of family values, presents a strong, well-reasoned, and informed defense of the traditional family. Interweaving history, anthropology, law, social science, and the teachings of Western religions, he argues that marriage between a man and a woman and the creation of a permanent, loving, and nurturing environment for children is a great historical achievement, one that should not be lightly abandoned in favor of more "progressive" arrangements. Bennett displays his ability to combine fearless conviction, acute insight, and respect for his adversaries in thorough, balanced and enlightening discussions of single parenthood, cohabitation, gay marriage, and other trends that are undercutting the ideal of the family as the essential foundation of society. Like The Death of Outrage and The Moral Compass, "The Broken Hearth" rises above the jeremiads characteristic of much contemporary public debate. Looking closely at the concerns and questions that divide America, Bennett provides a po