The Culture of the English People
Iron Age to the Industrial Revolution

"This most recent opus is a fitting capstone to a distinguished career....[A] useful contribution to the history of popular culture, especially because of its blending of material and mental culture." John M. Theilmann, History

"The principal focus (insofar as one may use that word in this context) is on the artifacts of popular culture, from chamber pots to hearth gear, from ceiling painting to clocks. This is a marvelous reference work for anyone interested in the details of everyday life in past time. Its value is enhanced by a detailed topical index and a lavish use of illustrations integrated with the text. The social historian (and historical novelist) will find details here on toilets and cesspits, diet and health, village gossips and witchcraft, all presented refreshingly free of jargon and arcane paradigms, and enlivened by allusions to customs and practices that are deeply rooted, and still with us. The author's sense of humor, harnessed to underline a contrast between then and now, provides welcome relief from the encyclopedic quality of this wide-ranging study." Albion

"This is an ambitious book....the scope is extremely wide....Perhaps the strongest impression it leaves is the remarkable recency of many of the living conditions that we now take for granted." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"This is an ambitious and readable attempt to survey the material culture and 'traditional culture' of the English from the 'iron age to the industrial revolution.' It is innovative insofar as it broadens the notion of culture to include as central to the study of premodern traditions and social relationships the material world in which those rituals and relations operated. The book is extremely wide-ranging and has the merit of linking physical, literary, and statistical evidence in a coherent and persuasive manner....Pounds's work is stimulating, amply illustrated, and adventurous in its scope. It is well worth reading and should stimulate interest in material culture and the rooting of historical mentalités in their physical milieux." Moira Donald, Journal of Modern History