This famous book was the first up-to-date survey of its field for a generation; even today, when work on early modern social history proliferates, it remains the only general economic history of the age. This second edition, substantially revised and expanded, is clear in outline, rich in detail, stressing continuity as well as change, balancing the glamour of privilege with the misery and privation of the poor, and dealing with the dark side of Tudor life — vagabondage, starvation, superstition and cruelty — as well as its heroic achievements.