Scan barcode
ewwa18's review against another edition
4.0
I had to read and review this book for University so I thought I'd post my review here.
Writing a history like Ralph Tailor’s Summer has many limitations and benefits. ‘History From Below’ is a history, told from the point of view of common people. While most histories focus on the well known people of the time, like the royal or the rich, ‘people’s history’ deals with the less famous, but equally important everyday people. Keith Wrightson’s book is a microhistory, focusing on the life of one man living during the plague outbreak of 1636. Ralph Tailor was a scrivener, living in the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the seventeenth century. He wrote for a living, a lucrative business at the time because most people couldn’t read or write. During the plague many people died, but before they died they had to put their affairs in order. This involved making a will. Ralph Tailor was the man to write those wills. Many of the wills and inventories he wrote during the plague of 1636 have survived and these are the prime resources used by Keith Wrightson for his book. The amount of detail in these wills and inventories illuminates many social, political and religious customs of the time. It is fortunate that these documents have survived for so long and that Keith Wrightson was able to find them and bring them to light.
There are many limitations regarding the accuracy and depth of histories told from ‘the people’s’ perspective. Often there is a vast time period between the event studied and the present, therefore much of the original information is lost to the ages. Documents can be lost, damaged or destroyed, if any documentation was made in the first place. Therefore it is difficult to compile a complete history of an event. If there are gaps concerning certain events, often the only way to fill them is with speculation and even an educated guess is still a guess and cannot be relied upon to be exact.
That being said, there is many benefits to writing a history of the common people. The poor, underprivileged and neglected people of history have just as much right to have their story told than the rich and fortunate people. Their stories give you sense of what it was really like to be a normal person living in another time. Having a first person account of an event, no matter how small, is that much more important and special. We know more about the lives of kings because their existence is more documented, but having information on the average lives of people gives a much richer perspective on how the majority lived. I think the benefits of writing a history in this style far out way the limitations because the lives of the common people are just as fascinating and much more relatable.
Reading a history like this reminds people that on the whole, society has not changed very much through the ages and many of the ideas, cares and hopes of normal people in the past mirror those of the present and future. I think Keith Wrightson's book is a marvellous story about an ordinary person living in an extraordinary time.
Writing a history like Ralph Tailor’s Summer has many limitations and benefits. ‘History From Below’ is a history, told from the point of view of common people. While most histories focus on the well known people of the time, like the royal or the rich, ‘people’s history’ deals with the less famous, but equally important everyday people. Keith Wrightson’s book is a microhistory, focusing on the life of one man living during the plague outbreak of 1636. Ralph Tailor was a scrivener, living in the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the seventeenth century. He wrote for a living, a lucrative business at the time because most people couldn’t read or write. During the plague many people died, but before they died they had to put their affairs in order. This involved making a will. Ralph Tailor was the man to write those wills. Many of the wills and inventories he wrote during the plague of 1636 have survived and these are the prime resources used by Keith Wrightson for his book. The amount of detail in these wills and inventories illuminates many social, political and religious customs of the time. It is fortunate that these documents have survived for so long and that Keith Wrightson was able to find them and bring them to light.
There are many limitations regarding the accuracy and depth of histories told from ‘the people’s’ perspective. Often there is a vast time period between the event studied and the present, therefore much of the original information is lost to the ages. Documents can be lost, damaged or destroyed, if any documentation was made in the first place. Therefore it is difficult to compile a complete history of an event. If there are gaps concerning certain events, often the only way to fill them is with speculation and even an educated guess is still a guess and cannot be relied upon to be exact.
That being said, there is many benefits to writing a history of the common people. The poor, underprivileged and neglected people of history have just as much right to have their story told than the rich and fortunate people. Their stories give you sense of what it was really like to be a normal person living in another time. Having a first person account of an event, no matter how small, is that much more important and special. We know more about the lives of kings because their existence is more documented, but having information on the average lives of people gives a much richer perspective on how the majority lived. I think the benefits of writing a history in this style far out way the limitations because the lives of the common people are just as fascinating and much more relatable.
Reading a history like this reminds people that on the whole, society has not changed very much through the ages and many of the ideas, cares and hopes of normal people in the past mirror those of the present and future. I think Keith Wrightson's book is a marvellous story about an ordinary person living in an extraordinary time.
lynn4mk's review against another edition
4.0
A tad dry at times, perhaps, but overall a fascinating glimpse into life in 17th century England.
More...