Excerpt from The Piers Plowman Social and Economic Histories, Vol. 5
These books have been written in order to depict, for the young of whatever age, some of the conditions and changes which have marked the lives of ordinary folk in past times. They trace, very simply, through the centuries the development of England on its social side; they deal with the ways in which people lived, earned their daily bread, traded, worshipped God, travelled, amused themselves, or endured the ups and downs of life. The national story in its main outlines has been well and often told; therefore the writers of this series have assumed that their readers have at hand one of the general political accounts. The present series is in any case intended merely as an introduction to a great subject, which, when studied more fully, touches at many points literature, art, music, handicraft, the dance, the drama, and other human activities. The lists of works for additional reading are therefore not to be neglected.
Social history is important, not merely because it gives the background for the great events of the past, but also because it enables us to understand, in some measure, the motives which have swayed or led great masses of plain men. Political movements, in fact, often arise out of social conditions, while great political changes are important because of their influence on everyday human life. The two aspects of history, therefore, the social and the political, ought not to be studied entirely apart. They explain each other.
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