This is a book which breaks new ground, and which offers fresh material for ecclesiastical, cultural, demographic and economic historians of the early modern period. There has been dispute amongst social historians about whether only the more prosperous in village society were involved in religious practice. Dr Spufford's team has produced a factual solution to this dispute by examining the taxation records of large groups of dissenters and churchwardens, and has established that both late Lollard and post-Restoration dissenting belief crossed the whole taxable spectrum. The apparent correlation of 'dissenting areas' and areas of early by-employment is also questioned. In her own substantial chapter Dr Spufford draws together the pieces of the huge mosaic constructed by her team of contributors and adds radical ideas of her own. Professor Patrick Collinson has contributed a critical conclusion to the volume.
Reviews
'The World of Rural Dissenters is of central importance not only to historians of religion but to all who are interested in the nature of early modern societies and in how to investigate them. The group directed by Margaret Spufford have settled many an old arguement and through their expertise and enthusiasm have produced a challenging agenda for new research.' David Hey, The Agricultural History Review
