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Conceptions of love and marriage are at the heart of the political debate over "values." Stephanie Coontz, director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families, describes the dramatic shift in many countries and cultures in their views of the emotional, social, economic and legal consequences of a couple's decision to enter into a formal and binding union. In her telling, the "love-based marriage" is a relative novelty. She will sign copies of Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, Or How Love Conquered Marriage following her Forum.