Reshaping Rural England: A Social History 1850-1925

First Published in 1991. Reshaping Rural England covers the crucial period of English rural history from the high point of Britain's agricultural power in the 1850s and 1860s through to the grim years of the inter-war period. Uncovering many of the myths of an idyllic rural England, Howkins looks in detail at the role of women, the workplace, the family and religion. Topics covered include: * the creation of a stable social order by the rural elites, concealing widespread poverty and disorder. * the economic collapse of the cereal market in the 1870s. * the emergence of trade unions and other forms of social conflict in the countryside. * changes in agricultural production and the horror of war. Alun Howkins combines the concerns of the new social history with original research to produce an accessible and coherent account of the transformation of a society.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Abbreviations Introduction The Rural World: Nation and Community Farm and Family The Sources of Stability and Harmony The Problems of Consensus: The Contradictions of the System The Problems of Consensus: Disorder and Crime The Crisis of Rural Society: 'The Wealthy and the Great' The Crisis of Rural Society: 'The Labouring Poor' A New Rural England The Rural Social Structure 1895-1914: Continuity and Discontinuity The Great War Aftermath 1918-1925

About the Author :
Alun Howkins

Review :
"A must-read overview of the cutting-edge science of embodied, situated social responses, here grounded at bodily levels from cortex to culture. The sampled authors provide original, deep, and provocative accounts of this exciting approach." - Susan T. Fiske, Ph.D., Eugene Higgins Professor, Department of Psychology, Princeton University, USA "Fundamental questions about the processes underlying human sociality have recently come into focus: How do we understand and empathize with each others' mental states, cooperate, and carry out joint action? This timely collection brings together major contributions from perspectives ranging across social psychology, neuroscience, evolution, ecological psychology, and cultural psychology. It will be a valuable resource for any researchers interested in the origins and nature of social life." - Eliot R. Smith, Ph.D., Chancellor's Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, USA "In this exciting volume, internationally renowned experts offer incisive and nuanced accounts of the grounding of human sociality from multiple disciplinary perspectives. This is a volume the field has been waiting for." - Chi-yue Chiu, Ph.D., Nanyang Technological University, Singapore