Description: An essential introductory survey of the towns, villages and parishes in which people lived in the medieval and early modern periods. Beat Kumin assesses the similarities, differences and the wider significance of these communities for European society prior to 1800.
Brief description: Beat Kümin is Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Warwick, UK, where he co-ordinates the Warwick Network for Parish Research & serves as an academic lead of the Global Research Priority on Food. His publications include Drinking Matters: Public Houses and Social Exchange in Early Modern Central Europe (2007) and Imperial Villages: Cultures of Political Freedom in the German Lands (2019). He is also the (co-)editor of A Cultural History of Food in the Early Modern Age (2012), Pfarreien in der Vormoderne (2017) and The European World 1500-1800: An Introduction to Early Modern History (4th edn, 2023).
Review Quotes:
"Highly recommended." - "Choice
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"Kumin's book is a welcome survey of an important topic and makes a significant contribution to both scholars and students alike." - Ezra L. Plank, "Communal Societies
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