Village England : a social history of the countryside / Trevor Wild.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wild, M. T. (Martin Trevor), 1940-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Villages--England--History.

Villages.

England.

History.

England--Rural conditions.

Rural conditions.

Physical Description:

xix, 204 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris ; New York : Distributed in the U.S.A. by Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Summary:

'Village England' - a world of verdant pastures, rolling cornfields, picturesque cottages and ancient church towers. It is, for many, the quintessential image of England. Yet few villages today can fulfil these expectations. Has this image of the cosy rural idyll ever truly existed? Trevor Wild tells the story of village England from its earliest origins to the present day. But his story is not simply one of rural harmony in idyllic settings. The author explores a deeper, sometimes darker history, one that includes dispossession, impoverishment, social transformation, agricultural failure and destruction of tradition. It is the impact of this deeper history that provides the fuller, more complete picture of English village life for which the author argues. This readable and engaging account will appeal to students and lecturers in social and economic history, historical geography and to a wider general readership with an interest in the social history of the countryside.

Contents:

1 Origins, Organic Quality and Geographical Context 1

2 The First Transformation: Village England and the Parliamentary Enclosures 22

3 Villages of Poverty and Rioting: Rural England in the Bleak Age 45

4 High Farming and the 'Ordered' Rural Society 70

5 Villages in Decay: Rural England in the Agricultural Depression 87

6 Village England in the Inter-War Years 114

7 The Second Transformation: Village England in the Post-War Era 149.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 190-196) and index.

ISBN:

1860649394

OCLC:

52231620