Part of the "Regional History of England" series, this text provides a regional history of Lancashire and Cheshire from 1540. Amongst the areas covered are population, landowning society, agriculture, transport, industry, towns, politics and society and social and cultural life.

Informative, vivid and richly illustrated, this volume explores the history of England's northern borders the former counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, Westmorland and the Furness areas of Lancashire across 1000 years. The book explores every aspect of this changing scene, from the towns and poor upland farms of early modern Cumbria to life in the teeming communities of late Victorian Tyneside. In their final chapters the authors review the modern decline of these traditional industries and the erosion of many of the region's historical characteristics."