Overview

Volume VIII of the Agrarian History of England and Wales was first published in 1978, and provides a technical, social and economic history of rural England and Wales in the years 1914-39. This period included four years of war, during which there was a rapid rise in prices, the post-war deflation and the depression. The author assesses the effects of these political and economic conditions on farming and farm workers. She describes regional variations in patterns of farming and the changes in methods of production by which farmers tried to reduce costs and increase output. She also examines the extension of government control over farming and the introduction of the marketing boards, and discusses the development of agricultural technology. Above all, she describes considers the conditions of life for the diminishing numbers of farm workers.