Liberty Against the Law by Christopher Hill
In 17th-century England, the law was not an instrument of justice - it was an instrument of oppression.
So argues Christopher Hill in this classic study. The enclosures, loss of many traditional rights and draconian punishments for minor transgressions changed the lives of the peasantry and created a landless class of wage labourers. Hill explores the immense social changes that occurred and the expressions of liberty against the law through, for example, the literary culture of the times and the hero-worship of the outlaw.
Christopher Hill (1912-2003) was a university lecturer in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century history, and from 1965 to 1978 he was Master of Balliol College. His many books and textbooks include `The English Bible and the Seventeenth Century Revolution' and `Liberty Against the Law'.
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From Endeavour