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Christopher Dyer's new book presents in published form the author's Ford Lectures delivered at Oxford University in the spring of 2001. Invitations to give the Ford Lectures are reserved for Britain's most eminent historians and provide a venerable and highly visible platform. Traditionally, the books that emerge from the Ford Lectures do three things well: they synthesize and summarize the leading secondary literature that has defined the contours of a particular field; they situate the author's own contributions within that field; and they present an overview that makes these contributions accessible to a wider historical audience. Dyer succeeds admirably in all three areas, and the result is a book that is sure to be of lasting value for specialists and non-specialists alike.
The book is animated by two general themes. The first is that the nature of late medieval society and the fortunes of its economy can be understood only by focusing attention on the lower orders of society, particularly peasants but also artisans, wage laborers, servants, and apprentices. Much of the argument in this regard is supported with evidence derived from the period's material culture and relies heavily on the author's deep and abiding interest in archeology. A good example of his approach occurs in a chapter dedicated to consumption and investment in the medieval economy. Dyer...