Remembering peasants a personal history of a vanished world

"A landmark new history of the peasant experience, exploring a now neglected way of life that once encompassed most of humanity but is vanishing in our time. For over the past century and a half, and still more rapidly in the last seventy years, the world has become increasingly urban, and the...

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Main Author: Joyce, Patrick, 1945- (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language: English
Published: New York, NY : Scribner, 2024.
Edition: First Scribner hardcover edition.
Subjects:
Summary: "A landmark new history of the peasant experience, exploring a now neglected way of life that once encompassed most of humanity but is vanishing in our time. For over the past century and a half, and still more rapidly in the last seventy years, the world has become increasingly urban, and the peasant way of life-the dominant way of life for humanity since agriculture began well over 6,000 years ago-is disappearing. In this new history of peasantry, social historian Patrick Joyce aims to tell the story of this lost world and its people, and how we can commemorate their way of life. In one sense, this is a global history, ambitious in scope, taking us from the urbanization of the early 19th century to the present day. But more specifically, Joyce's focus is the demise of the European peasantry and of their rites, traditions, and beliefs. Alongside this he brings in stories of individuals as well as places, including his own family, and looks at how peasants and their ways of life have been memorialized in photographs, literature, and in museums. Joyce explores a people whose voice is vastly underrepresented in human history and is usually mediated through others. And now peasants are vanishing in one of the greatest historical transformations of our time. Enlightening, timely, and vitally important, this book commemorates an extraordinary culture whose impact on history-and the future-remains profoundly relevant"--
Physical Description: xv, 384 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 9781668031087
1668031086
9781668031094
1668031094
Author Notes: Patrick Joyce is Emeritus Professor of History at University of Manchester. He is a leading British social historian and has long been a radical and influential voice in debates on the politics and future of social and cultural history. Joyce has written and edited numerous books of social and political history, including The Rule of Freedom , Visions of the People , and The State of Freedom . He is also the author of the memoir Going to My Father's House , a meditation on the complex questions of immigration, home, and nation. The son of Irish immigrants, Joyce was raised in London and resides beside the Peak District in England.