Dorset in fortunate. Not only is it endowed by nature with beautiful scenery, but is has a rich and well recorded history. In the first edition of his history of Dorset, Cecil Cullingford incorporated the scholarship of earlier local historian like the Rev. John Hutchins and added the product of his own fresh and original research. The result was a concise survey of Dorset history from prehistoric times to the present day that established it firmly as the definitive history of the county.
Dorset has been at the centre of major developments in the history of Britain, of Europe and indeed of the world. Dorset in 787 experienced the first Danish raid on England, whilst in 1348 Melcombe Regis was the first English town to be struck down by the Black Death, which so much disrupted medieval society. Mariners from Poole under pirate Paye harassed the coasts of Spain and France or sometimes operated peaceful and pious pilgrimages to Compostella. Leading families in control of the nation's affairs--the Cecils, Russells, Pitts and Churchills--had strong ties with Dorset. Then, too, Dorset men laid the foundations of the Empire by sailing to Newfoundland to claim it for Elizabeth I. They founded the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and made fortunes out of salt cod. In the 19th century the Tolpuddle labourers and the Dorset noblemen, Shaftesbury, exposed the sufferings of the poor. Above all, this is an account of Dorset people from all walks of life, whether divided among themselves--during the Reformation, the Civil Wars and the political conflicts on 1830-34--or living together in peaceful harmony, showing what so delighted Defoe about Dorset folk, their tolerance and good humour.
This new edition has been redesigned, in a modern integrated format with additional illustrations and more in colour. This is the essential reference book for the local historian and also the most attractive and readable book on Dorset for the general reader, the long-standing resident, the newcomer and for the county's many visitors.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Preface
1. Prehistoric and Roman Dorset
2. Saxon Dorset
3. Feudal Dorset
4. The Medieval Church
5. The Social and Economic Life of the Middle Ages
6. Tudor Dorset
7. King versus Parliament
8. Restoration, Rebellion and Revolution
9. Eighteenth-Century Dorset
10. Empire, Trade and War
11. Economic Change and Private Disaster
12. Conflict in the Countryside
13. Dorset in an Age of Reform (1830-1914)
14. Dorset's Links with Science and the Arts
15. Dorset in the Twentieth Century
Bibliography
Index
