At the start of the third Christian millennium we are aware of massive political, economic and ideological changes which condition the chances of liberty, wealth and equality. Yet it is surprisingly difficult for us to understand these forces, for we cannot see what surrounds us so closely. This book analyses our condition by looking at the work of two great thinkers, one of whom provides a deep historical perspective, the other a wide comparative analysis. F.W. Maitland (1850-1906) was more than the greatest professional historian of modern times, he was a philosopher who provides a...
At the start of the third Christian millennium we are aware of massive political, economic and ideological changes which condition the chances of libe...
In a frank and unpretentious series of letters addressed to a teenage granddaughter, this highly original book teaches us to know and understand the world we live in and its rules, and how to behave in it. In these thirty letters, Alan Macfarlane answers his granddaughter's questions about how the world works, how it got to be as it is, what it could be, and where she fits in. Lily's enquiries range from the intimate, personal and moral to the political, social and philosophical. What is the nature of good and evil? What is religion? How can I be truly me? Is right and wrong the same wherever...
In a frank and unpretentious series of letters addressed to a teenage granddaughter, this highly original book teaches us to know and understand the w...
This book describes the nature of English historical records over the period 1200 1800. It surveys the records created by the state, the estates of landlords, and the Church. The work arises from an intensive research project (1973 81), which involved the manual and computerised analysis of all the surviving records for two parishes, in Westmorland and Essex, up to 1800. The book considers the administrative and judicial process, which led to the compilation of the documents, the survival and quantity of each class, the location and form of the material, and the hidden omissions, inaccuracies...
This book describes the nature of English historical records over the period 1200 1800. It surveys the records created by the state, the estates of la...
Alan MacFarlane has studied the parishes of Earls Colne in Essex and Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria, as well as other parishes, and has undertaken anthropological fieldwork in a contemporary community in Nepal. In collaboration with Sarah Harrison and Charles Jardine he has devised a method of collecting, breaking down and then reintegrating historical records in a way which makes it possible to answer some of the sociological, demographic, anthropological, geographical and other questions which interest many people. For the amateur historian or genealogist who wants to know about a village or...
Alan MacFarlane has studied the parishes of Earls Colne in Essex and Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria, as well as other parishes, and has undertaken anthrop...
