This paper focuses on historian Philippe Ariès. It features his biography and bibliography and analyses his work L'Enfant et la vie familiale sous l'Ancien Régime – referring to its Serbian translation Vekovi detinjstva – which was among the first to research the history of childhood and family life in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. A number of theses expounded on in the book represented a novelty, especially the thesis that in the Middle Ages childhood did not exist, that is, children and childhood were treated essentially very differently than they are in the modern times, and the time span of childhood was very short. One of the novelties was Ariès’ approach to historical data, especially to iconography, which later became a point of critique. This paper gives an overview of the critical reviews and most common objections historians made about the book. The importance of the Centuries of Childhood lies in the fresh perspective on the childhood, and the issues it addresses continue to remain subject of debate, while many consider its theses successfully refuted, although its perhaps greatest merit is that it incentivised a lot of new research and opened new perspectives that were neglected thus far. It also awoke the interest for childhood and family life. The goal of this paper is to show that, despite the excitement caused by fresh ideas and innovative approach, it is necessary to critically approach the ideas contained in the book and reach conclusions on the basis of looking at evidence and according to the right methodology. This way it will be possible to make useful and appropriate conclusions from Ariès’ work and give it a place in the historiography of childhood that it deserves.