Warwickshire, in the very heart of England, is renowned for its leafy lanes, pastoral meadows, small medieval towns, and half-timbered cottages--yet it also embraces two modern industrial cities, Birmingham and Coventry. Within its historic bounds, the county contains a great variety of scenery, buildings, industries and agricultural practices, matched in the rich tapestry of its social heritage and traditions. In this concise and very readable narrative account of the events and people that have shaped and made modern Warwickshire, from prehistoric times to the present day, the author has maintained a careful balance between the many contrasting strands in the story and presents new perspectives that will intrigue all who know the county.
First published in 1981, this book was an immediate and unparalleled success. There have been many histories of the county since Sir William Dugdale’s account, published in 1656, as well as voluminous chronicles of its two great cities; but this it the only concise and authoritative survey of the whole chronological spectrum and the only modern work addresses to the general reader in an easy-to-read style, illuminated by a profusion of carefully selected illustrations. After a decade and a half o further simple reprint would not suffice, and the book had been entirely revised, re-set, re-illustrated and re-designed in a more modern format in this second edition. Already the account for first choice for dedicated local historians, ordinary resident and tourist alike, its position as the most popular book on the historic county is now assured until well into the next century.
Contents:
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. Introducing the County
2. Prehistoric Peoples and Roman Colonisation, before AD 410
3. The Anglo-Saxon Settlement, 410-1066
4. Warwickshire in Domesday Book, 1066-1086
5. The Middle Ages, 1086-1485
6. Desertion, Dissolution and Civil War, 1485-1660
7. Change in the Countryside, 1660-1900
8. The Development of Industry, 1660-1900
9. The Growing Towns
10. Warwickshire, 1900-1995
Select Bibliography
Index
