ABSTRACT
The World We Have Lost is a pioneering work in a new field of enquiry - the study of family and class, kinship and community in England after the Middle Ages and before the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
This updated re-issue of the third edition has been able to take account of the enormous amount of research which has been published since then, enabling Peter Laslett to draw a much more detailed picture and reach fuller conclusions.
The book explores:
*size and structure of families in pre-industrial England
*the number and position of servants in different households
*rates of migration
*ability to read and write
*the size and constituency of villages, cities and classes
*conditions of work
*social mobility.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter 1|21 pages
ENGLISH SOCIETY BEFORE AND AFTER THE COMING OF INDUSTRY The passing of the patriarchal household: parents and children, masters and servants page
The passing of the patriarchal household: parents and children,
chapter 2|31 pages
A ONE-CLASS SOCIETY Social divisions and power relations amongst nobility, gentry, townsmen and peasants page
Social divisions and power relations amongst nobility, gentry, townsmen and peasants
chapter 3|28 pages
THE VILLAGE COMMUNITY The scale of life in cottage, farmstead, manor house and church page
The scale of life in cottage, farmstead, manor house and church
chapter 4|25 pages
MISBELIEFS ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS The absence of child marriage and extended family households from the English past page
The absence of child marriage and extended family households from the English past
chapter 5|16 pages
BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS The recovery of the English population record since the close of the Middle Ages page
The recovery of the English population record since the close of the Middle Ages
chapter 6|31 pages
DID THE PEASANTS REALLY STARVE? Famine and pestilence amongst English people in the pre-industrial past page
Famine and pestilence amongst English people in the pre-industrial past
chapter 7|29 pages
PERSONAL DISCIPLINE AND SOCIAL SURVIVAL With notes on the history of bastardy and of sexual nonconformism in England page
With notes on the history of bastardy and of sexual nonconformism in England
chapter 8|28 pages
SOCIAL CHANGE AND REVOLUTION IN THE TRADITIONAL WORLD With an attempt to expunge the phrase ‘the English Revolution’ page
With an attempt to expunge the phrase ‘the English Revolution’
chapter 9|19 pages
THE PATTERN OF AUTHORITY AND OUR POLITICAL HERITAGE Social deference, political obedience and the county community of gentry page
Social deference, political obedience and the county community of gentry
chapter 10|17 pages
THE POLITICS OF EXCLUSION AND THE RULE OF AN ÉLITE Literacy and social mobility in the traditional social structure page
Literacy and social mobility in the traditional social structure
chapter 11|28 pages
AFTER THE TRANSFORMATION English society in the early twentieth century page
English society in the early twentieth century
