Rural Englands Labouring Lives in the Nineteenth-Century

This is the first ever general history of nineteenth-century English rural workers.Reay provides a fresh perspective on England's rural past, reintroducing those often excluded from more traditional historical approaches, and stressing the diversity of working communities and the dynamism of rural life. Reay challenges stereotypes of rural England, arguing that the extent of localization is so compelling that it forces a rethinking of a unitary "rural England."

Barry Reay is Professor of History at the University of Auckland.

List of Illustrations, Maps and Figures * Acknowledgements * Preface * Introduction: Locating Rural Workers * Rural Worlds * Working Men * Working Women and Children * Household Strategies * Life and Death * Leisure * Protest * Picturing Rural Work * Conclusion * Index