The Cambridge Urban History of Britain. - Review - book review

The Cambridge Urban History of Britain. Volume I 600-1540. D. M. Palliser, editor. Cambridge University Press. [pound]90.00/US$140.00. 841 pages. ISBN 0521-44461-6. As the editor writes, 'the history of British towns is a very distinctive one in a European -- even in a world -- perspective'. Not only was Britain the first country to become 'urbanised', with more than half her population living in urban areas.

But British towns and cities have played vital roles in her history for centuries, despite their relative smallness and the importance of rural life. This collection of essays, the first of a three-volume series, charts the development of Britain's towns and cities in five parts. After a two-part introduction by the editor on the origins of towns, the second part traces their history between 600 and 1300 with chapters on population, economy, churches and education, topography and London. The third part takes the survey from 1300 to 1540 with similar categories to which are added essays on port towns and small towns. The author then concentrates on regional surveys, a valuable approach which puts town life into a more specific context. In the Conclusion Professor Palliser claims that towns before the sixteenth century were 'collectively more important, populous and wealthy than is still often acknowledged by historians of later periods'. The survey stops with the radical transformation to urban life wrought by the Reformation and its destruction of so much of traditional city and town life.

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