Description: By a Flash and a Scare dispels any lingering notions of a 'green and pleasant land', and makes an important contribution to our understanding of life in the nineteenth century countryside. Social crime and covert protest were an integral part of the ordinary life of the rural poor. They did not protest infrequently, they protested all the time.
Review Quotes:
'This must surely be the final nail in the coffin of romantic impressions of English rural history, and a sizzling nail it is, red-hot from the forge. ...this extremely fine work will make uncomfortable reading for those historians who have tried to minimize social tension in the countryside.', K.D.M. Snell, Times Higher Education Supplement
'The extent of Archer's analysis is breath-taking; we learn in detail where, when and how arson occurred. He is a persuasive historian, and, ...has an eye for the simple as well as complex explanation.', David J.V. Jones, T.L.S.
'Archer dispels any nominal notion of rural bliss and proletarian acquiescence in Norfolk and Suffolk.', Roger Wells