Author Description

Exploring the shift from medieval to modern institutions in English agriculture and their importance for productivity, distribution, and their contribution to British economic growth, Allen's pioneering study shows that, contrary to the general assumption of many historians, small-scale farmers in the open-field system were responsible for a considerable proportion of the productivity growth achieved between the middle ages and the nineteenth century. The process of enclosure and the replacement of these yeoman farms with large-scale tenant farming relying on wage labor had relatively little impact on the agricultural contribution to economic development during industrial revolution. Enclosures and large farms enriched landowners without benefiting consumers, workers, or farmers. Thoroughly grounded in archival sources, and underpinned by rigorous economic analysis, this book is a scholarly and challenging reassessment of the history of English agriculture.