Somehow forgot the two books that had the biggest influence on me. (And forgot for so long that I can’t edit the post.)
- The Population History of England, 1541-1871, by Wrigley and Schofield.
- English Population History from Family Reconstitution, 1580–1837, by Wrigley et al.
These books describe and analyse what was, for the time, an extraordinary amount of painstakingly pieced together historical data. Reading them changed my understanding of how history could be studied.
- The Population History of England, 1541-1871, by Wrigley and Schofield.
- English Population History from Family Reconstitution, 1580–1837, by Wrigley et al.
These books describe and analyse what was, for the time, an extraordinary amount of painstakingly pieced together historical data. Reading them changed my understanding of how history could be studied.
Each book is 700-800 pages, so a big commitment for anyone outside the field. But if anyone’s curious, Prof. Wrigley’s obituary has an excellent summary: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/28/sir-tony-wrigl...