Children’s Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain’s Young by Peter Higginbotham traces the development of residential care for children in Britain from the sixteenth century to the late twentieth century. The book examines a wide range of institutions, including orphanages, reformatories, industrial schools, training ships, and children’s homes, showing how they emerged in response to poverty, abandonment, and social concern about childhood. Higginbotham explores how these institutions were founded, funded, and run, and what everyday life was like for the children who lived in them, often highlighting the gap between charitable intentions and harsh realities. The book also charts the gradual shift away from large institutional care after the Second World War, as policy and practice moved toward fostering, adoption, and smaller, family-based forms of care.