The Development of Agrarian Capitalism: Land and Labour in Norfolk, 1440–1580. By Jane Whittle. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Pp xii, 361. £45.00.

Extract

Jane Whittle's fine book makes a distinctive contribution in a number of ways. First of all, it is a detailed account of the land market of a single manor—Hevingham Bishops, in Norfolk—supplemented by a study of the surviving records of a number of other adjacent manors, which spans the normal divide between the later middle ages and the sixteenth century. Secondly, it is a study of labor and employment in Norfolk, notably in the early and mid-sixteenth century. Thirdly, it is a formidable and well-researched critique of Robert Brenner's thesis. As one might expect of a book based on a doctoral thesis, much of the exposition is detailed, sometimes over-detailed, but the less-committed will find that it is a virtue of the book that it contains good summaries of the evidence presented and the case argued. Despite the apparent narrowness of the book, based largely on a single manor and certainly a single county, this is not a work to be overlooked. It is an impressive and mature debut, which will serve to bring one of the most able of the younger generation of early modern economic and social historians to a wider readership.