The Development of Agrarian Capitalism: Land and Labour in Norfolk 1440-1580

This is an important new study of the roots of capitalism. Jane Whittle provides a penetrating analysis of the links between peasant society and early capitalism as she discusses north-east Norfolk, a county which played a leading role in the agrarian revolution. She uses a rich variety of sources from the precocious and commercialized locality to examine a range of topics, from the manorial system and serfdom, land rights, land markets and inheritance, to the distribution of land and wealth…