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The debate on the transition from feudalism to capitalism,
originally published in Science and Society in the early 1950s, is
one of the most famous episodes in the development of Marxist
historiography since the war. It ranged such distinguished
contributors as Maurice Dobb, Paul Sweezy, Kohachiro Takahshi and
Christopher Hill against each other in a common, critical
discussion. Verso has now published the complete texts of the
original debate, to which subsequent discussion has returned again
and again, together with significant new materials produced by
historians since then. These include articles on the same themes by
such French and Italian historians as Georges Lefebvre and Giuliano
Procacci. What was the role of trade in the Dark Ages? How did
feudal rents evolve during the Middle Ages? Where should the
economic origins of mediaeval towns be sought? Why did serfdom
eventually disappear in Western Europe? What was the exact
relationship between city and countryside in the transition from
feudalism to capitalism? How should the importance of overseas
expansion be assessed for the 'primitive accumulation of capital'
in Europe? When should the first bourgeois revolutions be dated,
and which social classes participated in them? All these, and many
other vital questions for every student of mediaeval and modern
history, are widely and freely explored. Finally, for this Verso
edition, Rodney Hilton, author of Bond Men Made Free, has written a
special introductory essay, reconsidering and summarising relevant
scholarship in the two decades since the publication of the
original discussion. The result is a book that will be essential
for history courses, and fascinating for the general reader.
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'Rodney Hilton is now generally recognised as the greatest authority on these topics in the English-speaking world.' - Guardian
'A most welcome contribution, illuminating a great deal of European history as well as setting the English revolt of 1381 in a wider context than is usual.' - Michel Prestwich, Times Higher Education Supplement
'This is a learned and welcome book. Professor Hilton approaches an old subject with a fresh eye and mind.' - Times Literary Supplement
Some of the liveliest and most fruitful debates in recent
historical writing have been about the transition from feudalism to
capitalism. Rodney Hilton's vast and distinguished body of work on
medieval society has been a major reference point in these debates.
Throughout his work the dominant theme has been his argument that
the "prime mover" in the development of medieval society was the
conflict between landlords and peasants over the appropriation of
the peasants' surplus product. This is the class conflict which
gives the present volume its title. This wide-ranging collection,
updated to include some of Hilton's most recent writings, explores
not only the peasant economy and peasant movements but also the
nature of towns and their principal classes. Essays include a
fascinating study of women traders in medieval England, and an
account of medieval tax revolts-all informed by his lucid,
undogmatic attention to broad theoretical issues as well as to
empirical detail. This is a book not only for historians, but for
anyone interested in the evolution of capitalism or the larger
questions of historical process and social change.
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