With the publication of The Population History of England in 1981 it has become possible for the first time to trace in detail the demographic changes that occurred in a major European country throughout the early modern period and during the industrial revolution. It is therefore also now possible to test our understanding of the functioning of early modern economies in relation to their demographic patterns against the new empirical data. The discussion of this historical theme, first initiated by Malthus in the late eighteenth century, can now be taken a substantial step further. All of the essays published here take advantage of this new possibility, either by using the English data themselves, or by reflecting on the implications of a comparison between English patterns and those found elsewhere. The essays contribute not only to a richer understanding of the relationships in the past between population and economy, but also to a fuller appreciation of the circumstances that limited economic growth in pre-industrial economies and with the train of events that led to the escape from these constraints with the industrial revolution.


Focusing on urban development and the influence of urbanization on industrialization, this volume reflects a radical rethinking of the traditional approaches to the development of cities.

Originally published in 1981.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


In this volume the articles are primarily on European history, but their subject matter indicates the remarkable variety, both of the marriage and fertility patterns of past societies, and of the methods scholars have used to investigate them.

Originally published in 1981.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.