Joan Thirsk (CBE, FBA), was Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford from 1965-1983, and is currently President of the British Agricultural History Society.

Named a 1998 Outstanding Academic Book by Choice

"Thirsk writes with relish about the successes and failures of alternative agriculture. Her book is a delightful guide to a subject that has perhaps not been treated in the past with the seriousness it deserves. Certainly, no one has ever written such a clever synthesis as this."--Historian

"Thirsk's brilliant study of six centuries of British agriculture affirms her status as the preeminent scholar of the subject...Thirsk's fascinating study is rich in detail about the successes and failures of experimentation, and it stresses the importance of regional specialization, the clear patterns that characterized each period, the lessons learned that permanently influenced British agriculture, economy, and diet, and the lessons forgotten only to be learned again. Highly recommended to readers and libraries interested in British studies, agricultural history, and the history of diet and nutrition."--CHOICE

"It presents a detailed and moving account of the energy, initiative, vision, courage, success, and failure that went into the quest to wrest a living from the land during those times when mainstream agriculture's ability to grow wheat and meat outstripped the market's ability to absorb them....[R]ich in example and understanding."--Albion

"In short, this is a thought-compelling and multifaceted essay, distinctive in its forcing 'alternative' perspectives upon the history of agriculture."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"This ambitious book is the masterwork of a distinguished English agrarian historian....It offers a new and stimulating way of looking at more than six centuries not only of English agricultures and rural societies, but also of food consumption and associated cultures....It illuminates aspects of society which go far beyond its ostensible remit. It is the crowning triumph of an academic career....[I]t deserves the widest possible readership."--Journal of Social History