The Rural Life in the Dun Valley 1066-1900 is a bit of a specialist volume. Like the author, Margaret Baskerville, I've had to resort to illustrations from the Weald and Downland Museum in the next county as there is not a lot of material to go on. But that's the point. I think some of the source material such as receipt of tithes, probates and inventories are presented without a lot of colour or comment but nonetheless it gives a fascinating insight into how people lived. There are unexpected events (such as the Swing Riots organised by the fictitious Captain Swing of the scythe gangs) and you can imagine the lives and times of the agricultural labourers that just don't get told in our chocolate box National Trust view of rural estates. Overall it is difficult to put a swift narrative flow to such a wide period of time but the narrow geographical focus is well set in Britain's social history.
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