The Nonconformist Revolution

Amanda J. Thomas • £16.99
pen-and-sword.co.uk

This new book explores the evolution of dissenting thought and how Nonconformity shaped the transformation of England from a rural to an urban, industrialised society.

The foundations for the Industrial Revolution were in place from the late Middle Ages when the early development of manufacturing processes and changes in the structure of rural communities began to provide opportunities for economic and social advancement. Successive waves of Huguenot migrants and the influence of Northern European religious ideology also played an important role in this process. The Civil Wars would provide a catalyst for the dissemination of new ideas and help shape the emergence of a new English Protestantism and divergent dissident sects. The persecution which followed strengthened the Nonconformist cause, and for the early Quakers it intensified their unity and resilience, qualities which would prove to be invaluable for business.

In the years following the Restoration, Nonconformist ideas fuelled enlightened thought creating an environment for enterprise but also a desire for more radical change. Reformers seized on the plight of a working poor alienated by innovation and frustrated by false promises. The vision which was at first the spark for innovation would ignite revolution.

Woodsmoke and Sage: The Five Senses 1485–1603 – How the Tudors Experienced the World

Amy Licence • £20
thehistorypress.co.uk

Traditionally history is cerebral: what did they believe, what did they think, what did they know? Woodsmoke and Sage is not a traditional book. Using the five senses, historian Amy Licence presents a new perspective on the material culture of the past, exploring the Tudors’ relationship with the fabric of their existence, from the clothes on their backs, the roofs over their heads and the food on their tables, to the wider questions of how they interpreted and presented themselves, and what they believed about life, death and beyond. Take a journey back 500 years and experience the 16th century the way it was lived, through sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.

A Book Full of Rogersons

Barnaby Rogerson • £20
travelbooks.co.uk

The English tend either to look towards the lord in his moated castle or the poor peasant at his gate, to polarise between nob and mob, capitalist and communist.

This book takes us into another English landscape. It is the tale of an ordinary family, quietly proud of their parish, pub and position, who treat their children as equals. The only extraordinary thing about them is that they have kept hold of their stories, which now reach back over 15 generations. This chronicle told backwards – from yesterday’s gossip to the times of the Tudors – reveals a contented England, lived in and loved by a family of vicars and farmers, colonels and brewers, naval commanders and horse-lovers. It is also an honest narrative, recording scandals and suicides beside occasional successes, be they on the battlefield, in the boardroom or the bedroom.

Women in Medieval England

Lynda Telford • £10.99
amberley-books.com

This book explores the status of women in medieval England, both before and after the Norman Conquest. The author starts by contrasting the differences in status between Anglo/Danish or Saxon women with those who fell under the burden of the feudal system imposed by the Normans. She covers such subjects as marriage and childbirth, the rights and responsibilities of wives, separation and divorce, safety and security and the challenges of widowhood. The lives of ordinary women are the centre of attention, painting a fascinating picture of their courage and resilience against the background of their times.