3 Review(s)

This book is a vivid and refreshing consideration of everyday life in a town visited by plague, Civil War, religious radicalism and industrial changes. What really happened in the place once described as 'the most rebellious town in Devon'? The town of Colyton in Devon has been intensively analysed by historians interested in population trends, but this book combines demographic information with extensive details of the economy, society and local politics of the parish and region. This finely-grained, micro-history stresses the diversity of local experience and exposes many facets of the lives of ordinary individuals during the period. The book provides valuable new material on religious radicalism, agricultural changes, economic development, local politics, poverty and welfare policies as well as the history of the family and lifecycle in a small town.