Medieval Devon and Cornwall: Shaping an Ancient Countryside

摘要

With their wealth of illustrations, many of them in colour, the books in this series by Windgather Press are attractively produced and could, superficially, be mistaken for relatively lightweight productions. This is far from being the case yet the format-170 pages or so-is a tight one and requires compromises in terms of coverage. Within a regional focus the balance between depth and breadth can be struck in different ways. Thus John Barnatt and Ken Smith's volume on the Peak District opts for a wide chronological sweep from prehistory to recent times. Here, as with Nick Higham's book on the North West of England, the chronological focus is tighter though the Middle Ages, as is evident here, can range from the sixth to the 16th centuries.