"A brilliant and persuasive synthesis of the best recent work in all fields of seventeenth century English history."ùChristopher Hill<BR><BR>"A triumphant success... deserves to be widely read."ùH.T. Dickinson<BR><BR>"Conceived as an intellectual whole and vibrantly alive."ùJohn Kenyon, The Observer<BR><BR>English Society, 1580-1680 paints a fascinating picture of society and social change in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It discusses both the enduring characteristics of society as well as the course of social change. The book emphasizes the wide variation in experience between different social groups and local communities, and the unevenness of the processes of transition, to build up an overall interpretation of continuity and change.<BR><BR>In this edition, Keith Wrightson provides a new introduction to set the book in its context and to reflect on recent research, together with an updated guide to further reading.