Synopses & Reviews
This is the first paperback edition of a classic work of recent English historiography, first published by Edward Arnold in 1981. Numerous traditional assumptions are qualified, confirmed, or overturned, and the authors marshall a mass of statistical material into a series of clear, lucid arguments about past patterns of demographic behavior. In a new short preface, Wrigley and Schofield consider the debate engendered by their Population History, the impact of which has been felt far beyond the traditional disciplinary confines of historical demography.
Review
"The book is a great achievement, which will stimulate controversy, research, and the teaching of demographic and economic history everywhere for years to come." Journal of Economic History
Synopsis
Marshals a mass of statistical material into a series of clear, lucid arguments about past patterns of demographic behaviour and their relationship to economic trends.
Synopsis
The first paperback edition of a classic work of recent English historiography, originally published by Edward Arnold in 1981. Numerous traditional assumptions are challenged in its controversial analysis of patterns of demographic behavior.
Table of Contents
Introductory note; Related publications; Preface to the first edition; Introduction; Part I. From Parish Register Data to National Vital Series: 1. The basic data; 2. The representativeness of the date; 3. Inflation to national frequencies; 4. From baptisms and burials to births and deaths: corrections for nonconformity and late baptism; 5. From baptisms and burials to births and deaths: final inflation ratios: offsetting other causes of non-registration; Part II. English Population History: 6. Secular trends: some basic patterns; 7. Secular trends: back-projection estimates of population characteristics and vital rates; 8. Short-term variations: some basic patterns; 9. Short-term variation: vital rates, prices, and weather; 10. The economic setting of long-term trends in English fertility and mortality; 11. Conclusion; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.