Early Modern Kent 1540-1640

Aspects of Kent history from Henry VIII to Charles I: politics, economics, agriculture, society, religion - and witchcraft.

An immensely useful volume. HISTORY Kent was at the heart of the nation's history during the period of the Reformation, the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and the decades leading up to the English Civil Wars. This specially commissioned new history offers an accessible but scholarly introduction to the county's history during a century of extraordinary developments. It covers the county's evolution from Henry VIII to Charles I, addressing local political, economic and industrial change in the context of the larger national picture, and highlighting the striking diversity of the county's farming systems and landscapes, both urban and rural. The progress of the Protestant Reformation and its wider consequences for the common people as well as the gentry of Kent are studied in depth. There is also a challenging new interpretation of the origins and growth of political differences among the governors of Kent, which led ultimately to the civil strife of the 1640s. Finally, there is a detailed look at witchcraft and witch-hunting in Kent between the reign of Elizabethan and the Civil War period. MICHAEL ZELL is lecturer in history at the University of Greenwich. Contributors: PATRICIA HYDE, MICHAEL L. ZELL, JOAN THIRSK, JANE ANDREWES, JACQUELINE BOWER, MALCOLM J. GASKILL, JACQUELINE EALES.