Allotments are sanctuaries for growing, often on the fringes of suburbia, where life is getting ever more stressful and expensive. Here, a simple urge to grow-your-own or become self-sufficient, brings us closer to a community of people, wildlife and plants that are often more diverse than the cities and towns that surround them. An allotment is a utopia. It is a green place where anyone can occupy a piece of land, and grow with freedom of expression. Allotmenteering started with The Diggers in seventeenth-century Surrey, in response to the Enclosure Acts which deprived ordinary people of access to land. But the idea spread, first across England and the British Isles, then through Europe and the world. 'The Allotment', originally published in 1988, is the classic study of allotments. Encompassing the oral recordings of plot-holders alongside descriptions of regional variations on the plot itself, such as pigeon-fancying, seed collecting or leek competitions, it looks at British society and history through the prism of allotments. With a new introduction by Olivia Laing, this is a story that is just as relevant today, and is essential for those interested in social history, land ownership and gardening in twenty-first century Britain.

Tourism studies and media studies both address key issues about how we perceive the world. They raise acute questions about how we relate local knowledge and immediate experience to wider global processes, and they both play a major role in creating our map of national and international cultures. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, this book explores the interactions between tourism and media practices within a contemporary culture in which the consumption of images has become increasingly significant. A number of common themes and concerns arise, and the contributions included are divided between those: written from media studies awareness perspective, concerned with the way the media imagines travel and tourism written from the point of view of the study of tourism, considering how tourism practices are affected or altered by the media that attempt a direct comparison between the practices of tourism and the media. Incorporating case study material from the UK, the Caribbean, Australia, the US, France and Switzerland, this significant text - ideal for students of culture, media and tourism studies - discusses tourism and the media as separate processes through which identity is constructed in relation to space and place.

This volume considers leisure/tourism as an encounter. An encounter that exists between people, between people and space and between people and their expectations, experiences and desires. The contributors explore diverse aspects of leisure and tourism, ranging from the methodologies behind leisure practices to detailed case studies including: Disneyland, Paris; tourism in sacred landscapes; leisure practices in cyberspace; leisure and yachting; use of recreational/holiday cottages; National Parks; and local parks and gardens. Presenting a mix of attitudes and ideas concerning leisure and tourism, this book documents a debate, placing geography at its centre.

David Crouch's William Marshal, now in its third edition, depicts this intriguing medieval figure as a ruthless opportunist, astute courtier, manipulative politician and a brutal but efficient soldier. Born the fourth son of a minor baron, he ended his days as Earl of Pembroke and Regent of England, and was the only medieval knight to have a contemporary biography written about him. Using this biography in addition to the many other primary sources dedicated to him, the author provides a narrative of William Marshal and a survey of the times in which he lived and also considers the problems and questions posed by the History. The third edition has been extensively updated and revised, and now includes: expanded sections on the reality of medieval tournaments and warfare as it is described in the biography an in-depth study of Marshal's family life and children based on the latest research including material from the new edition of the Marshal family acts and letters more on Marshal's royal patrons and contemporaries, in particular the relationship between Marshal and his nemesis, King John. William Marshal explores the world of medieval knighthood and the the aristocratic life of the times in engaging, readable prose, and is a unique resource for students of medieval history.

An authoritative and comprehensive account of an important area centred around the town of Howden. This is the second part of a study of Howdenshire, containing a history of the town of Howden and its ancient minster, the least known of the great medieval churches of Yorkshire. The volume also deals with the lordship and civilunit of which the town was the heart, the area called Howdenshire, one of the more complicated regions of England. The book offers a history of the origins and development of the liberty of the bishop of Durham, its ruler until 1836. The liberty of Howdenshire covered all the bishop's possessions in the East Riding, and the book looks at the liberty's scattered exclaves across it, offering a full township and parish study of the most important of them, Welton with Melton, a distant and detached part of Howdenshire until 1894. Finally, the book deals with the two ancient commons associated with Howdenshire. The first is Bishopsoil, a common of 4,000 acres within the bishop's lordship. The volume also contains a study of the administration, drainage and ecology of the great 4,500 acre wetland common of Wallingfen, east of Howdenshire, which from around 1280 until 1781 was governed by the gentry and freeholders of the surrounding parishes, an area of England unique in its history, governance and economy.

At last: an authoritative, up to date account of the troubled reign of King Stephen, by a leading scholar of the Anglo-Norman world. David Crouch covers every aspect of the period - the king and the empress, the aristocracy, the Church, government and the nation at large. He also looks at the wider dimensions of the story, in Scotland, Wales, Normandy and elsewhere. The result (weaving its discussions around a vigorous narrative core) is a a work of major scholarship. A must for specialist and amateur medievalists alike.

For 300 years separate and mutually uncomprehending English and French historiographies have confused the history of medieval aristocracy. Unpicking the basic assumptions behind both national traditions, this book explains them, reconciles them and offers entirely new ways to take the study of aristocracy forward in both England and France. The Birth of Nobility analyses the enormous international field of publications on the subject of medieval aristocracy, breaking it down into four key debates: noble conduct, noble lineage, noble class and noble power. Each issue is subjected to a thorough review by comparing current scholarship with what a vast range of historical source material actually says. It identifies the points of divergence in the national traditions of each of these debates and highlights where they have been mutually incomprehensible. For students studying medieval Europe.

David Crouch's William Marshal, now in its third edition, depicts this intriguing medieval figure as a ruthless opportunist, astute courtier, manipulative politician and a brutal but efficient soldier. Born the fourth son of a minor baron, he ended his days as Earl of Pembroke and Regent of England, and was the only medieval knight to have a contemporary biography written about him. Using this biography in addition to the many other primary sources dedicated to him, the author provides a narrative of William Marshal and a survey of the times in which he lived and also considers the problems and questions posed by the History. The third edition has been extensively updated and revised, and now includes: expanded sections on the reality of medieval tournaments and warfare as it is described in the biography an in-depth study of Marshal's family life and children based on the latest research including material from the new edition of the Marshal family acts and letters more on Marshal's royal patrons and contemporaries, in particular the relationship between Marshal and his nemesis, King John. William Marshal explores the world of medieval knighthood and the the aristocratic life of the times in engaging, readable prose, and is a unique resource for students of medieval history.

David Crouch provides a broad definition of aristorcracy by examining the ways aristocrats behaved and lived between 1000 and 1300. He analyses life-style, class and luxurious living in those years. A distinctive feature of the book is that it takes a British, rather than Anglocentric, view - looking at the penetration of Welsh and Scottish society by Anglo-French ideas of aristocracy.

For 300 years separate and mutually uncomprehending English and French historiographies have confused the history of medieval aristocracy. Unpicking the basic assumptions behind both national traditions, this book explains them, reconciles them and offers entirely new ways to take the study of aristocracy forward in both England and France. The Birth of Nobility analyses the enormous international field of publications on the subject of medieval aristocracy, breaking it down into four key debates: noble conduct, noble lineage, noble class and noble power. Each issue is subjected to a thorough review by comparing current scholarship with what a vast range of historical source material actually says. It identifies the points of divergence in the national traditions of each of these debates and highlights where they have been mutually incomprehensible. For students studying medieval Europe.

Discussion of display through a range of artefacts and in a variety of contexts: family and lineage, social distinction and aspiration, ceremony and social bonding, and the expression of power and authority. Medieval culture was intensely visual. Although this has long been recognised by art historians and by enthusiasts for particular media, there has been little attempt to study social display as a subject in its own right. And yet,display takes us directly into the values, aspirations and, indeed, anxieties of past societies. In this illustrated volume a group of experts address a series of interrelated themes around the issue of display and do so in a waywhich avoids jargon and overly technical language. Among the themes are family and lineage, social distinction and aspiration, ceremony and social bonding, and the expression of power and authority. The media include monumental effigies, brasses, stained glass, rolls of arms, manuscripts, jewels, plate, seals and coins. Contributors: MAURICE KEEN, DAVID CROUCH, PETER COSS, CAROLINE SHENTON, ADRIAN AILES, FREDERIQUE LACHAUD, MARIAN CAMPBELL, BRIAN and MOIRA GITTOS, NIGEL SAUL, FIONN PILBROW, CAROLINE BARRON and JOHN WATTS.

Introduces undergraduates to the key debates regarding space and culture and the key theoretical arguments which guide cultural geographical work. This book addresses the impact, significance, and characteristics of the 'cultural turn' in contemporary geography. It focuses on the development of the cultural geography subdiscipline and on what has made it a peculiar and unique realm of study. It demonstrates the importance of culture in the development of debates in other subdisciplines within geography and beyond. In line with these previous themes, the significance of space in the production of cultural values and expressions is also developed. Along with its timely examination of the health of the cultural geographical subdiscipline, this book is to be valued for its analysis of the impact of cultural theory on studies elsewhere in geography and of ideas of space and spatiality elsewhere in the social sciences.

At last: an authoritative, up to date account of the troubled reign of King Stephen, by a leading scholar of the Anglo-Norman world. David Crouch covers every aspect of the period - the king and the empress, the aristocracy, the Church, government and the nation at large. He also looks at the wider dimensions of the story, in Scotland, Wales, Normandy and elsewhere. The result (weaving its discussions around a vigorous narrative core) is a a work of major scholarship. A must for specialist and amateur medievalists alike.

David Crouch provides a broad definition of aristorcracy by examining the ways aristocrats behaved and lived between 1000 and 1300. He analyses life-style, class and luxurious living in those years. A distinctive feature of the book is that it takes a British, rather than Anglocentric, view - looking at the penetration of Welsh and Scottish society by Anglo-French ideas of aristocracy.

The idea of 'flirting' with space is central to this book. Space is conceptualised as being in constant flux as we make our way through various contexts in our daily lives, and is considered in relation to encounters with complexities and flows of material culture. This book focuses on journeys, which are perceived as dynamic processes of contemporary life and its spaces, and how creativity happens in the inter-relations of space and journeys encourage creativity. Unravelled through a range of empirical case studies of journeys through and encountered with space, this book builds new critical syntheses of the intertwining of space and life. Based on investigations undertaken by the author over the past 20 years, it explores the mundane and the exotic, the 'lay' and the 'artistic', combining and inter-relating them in a diversity of time and expression, fleeting and surviving. Such investigations, using both visual and non-visual material, include examinations of allotment holding, the work of artists, caravanning and tourism, photography and parish maps. The analyses of such seemingly disparate subjects are linked together and build on each other to create a fascinating and original view of humanity's interaction with space. Included are fresh discussions of belonging, disorientation and the working of identity and play. The notion of 'gentle politics' is introduced.

Introduces undergraduates to the key debates regarding space and culture and the key theoretical arguments which guide cultural geographical work. This book addresses the impact, significance, and characteristics of the 'cultural turn' in contemporary geography. It focuses on the development of the cultural geography subdiscipline and on what has made it a peculiar and unique realm of study. It demonstrates the importance of culture in the development of debates in other subdisciplines within geography and beyond. In line with these previous themes, the significance of space in the production of cultural values and expressions is also developed. Along with its timely examination of the health of the cultural geographical subdiscipline, this book is to be valued for its analysis of the impact of cultural theory on studies elsewhere in geography and of ideas of space and spatiality elsewhere in the social sciences.

Though England was the emerging super-state in the medieval British Isles, its story is not the only one Britain can offer; there is a wider context of Britain in Europe, and the story of this period is one of how European Latin and French culture and ideals colonised the minds of all the British peoples. This engaging and accessible introduction offers a truly integrated perspective of medieval British history, emphasising elements of medieval life over political narrative, and offering an up-to-date presentation and summary of medieval historiography. Featuring figures, maps, a glossary of key terms, a chronology of rulers, timelines and annotated suggestions for further reading and key texts, this textbook is an essential resource for undergraduate courses on medieval Britain. Supplementary online resources include additional further reading suggestions, useful links and primary sources.

David Crouch presents a reconstruction and edition of the cartulary of the one of Yorkshire's leading medieval families. The Methams were once a leading gentry family of Yorkshire, whose origins can be traced to a member of the twelfth-century minster community of Howden. By 1405 the family had reached a peak of its influence, with great estates spread across the East Riding and Vale of York acquired through marriage, the rewards of office and also by exploiting the debt market. At that point Sir Alexander Metham commissioned a cartulary, a book in which to register the family's deeds and other documents, of which there were once well over a thousand. The cartulary survived till around 1680 and carried with it a large part of the history of the East Riding. But then it disappeared, though not before it had attracted the attention of two great Yorkshire antiquaries, Dr Nathaniel Johnston and James Torre. Their transcripts from this lost volume allow a reconstruction of over 700 items of its former contents, and with it open a new window on Yorkshire in the middle ages. The edition offers in addition a new biography of Torre and a key to the decoding of Johnston's notorious handwriting, which has frustrated and defeated scholars for over two centuries.

Tourism studies and media studies both address key issues about how we perceive the world. They raise acute questions about how we relate local knowledge and immediate experience to wider global processes and both play a major role in creating our map of national and international cultures. The Media and the Tourist Imagination adopts a multidisciplinary approach to explore the interactions between tourism and media practices within a contemporary culture in which the consumption of images has become increasingly significant. The contributions are divided between those written from media studies awareness, concerned with the way the media imagine travel and tourism; those written from the point of view of the study of tourism, which consider how tourism practices are affected or inflected by the media, and those that attempt a direct comparison between the practices of tourism and the media. A number of common themes and concerns arise with particular emphasis upon the image as the object of consumption. collection is also concerned to mark out their different approaches to the structuring and organizin of experience and the way in which this leads to a dynamic interchange between them. Tourism and the media are discussed as separate processes through which identity is constructed in relation to space and place.

This collection represents the surviving output of the clerks of the men and women of the most powerful magnate dynasty in England, Wales and Ireland in the thirteenth century. Its greatness was short-lived, but as a result of the Marshals' spread of interests and marriage alliances the charters and letters edited here embrace a remarkable diversity of lordships and societies. That fact and the central place the two Earls William Marshal held at the court of the young Henry III between 1216 and 1231, playing a decisive role in the establishment of Magna Carta, give this collection a unique interest for medieval historians of Britain and France, more so perhaps than for any other contemporary magnate family.

An authoritative and comprehensive account of an important area centred around the town of Howden. This is the first part to be published of a two-part volume on the East Riding liberty and wapentake of Howdenshire. It deals with the nineteen civil parishes and townships which made up the liberty outside the town of Howden itself. Until 1836 Howdenshire was one of the bishop of Durham's exempt franchises in Yorkshire, enclaves which survived the Reformation and Civil War. Its special nature, which is mostly ancient wetland reclaimed in the twelfth century, is explored via in-depth sections on drainage and river defence, with a reconstruction of the unique medieval and early modern scheme developed to contain the River Ouse and empty the drainage dykes.

New interpretations of the effect of Magna Carta and other aspects of the reign of King John. Magna Carta marked a watershed in the relations between monarch and subject and has long been the subject of constitutional and political historical writing. This volume has a different focus: what was the social, economic, legal, and religious background to the Charter - what was England like between 1199 and 1215? And, no less important, how was King John perceived by those who actually knew him? Studies here analyse earlier Angevin rulers and theeffect of their reigns on John's England, the causes and results of the increasing baronial fear of the king, the "managerial revolution" of the English church, and the effect of the ius commune on English common law; theyalso explore the burgeoning economy of the early thirteenth century and its effect on English towns, the background to discontent over the royal forests which eventually led to the Charter of the Forest, the effect of Magna Cartaon widows and property, and the course of criminal justice before 1215. The volume ends with the first critical edition of an open letter from King John explaining his position in the matter of William de Briouze. Contributors: James A. Brundage, David Crook, David Crouch, John Gillingham, Barbara A. Hanawalt, John Hudson, Janet S. Loengard, James Masschaele, R. V. Turner.

Leisure and Tourism Geographies considers leisure/tourism as an encounter an encounter that exists between people, people and space, people as socialised and embodied subjects, expectations, experience and desire.
The contributors explore diverse aspects of leisure and tourism, ranging from the methodologies behind leisure practices to detailed case studies which include Disneyland Paris; tourism in sacred landscapes; leisure practices in cyberspace; leisure and yachting; consuming pleasures; the use of recreational/holiday cottages; National Parks; and local parks and gardens.
Presenting an exciting mix of attitudes and ideas concerning leisure and tourism, this book documents a lively debate, placing geography at its centre.

Though England was the emerging super-state in the medieval British Isles, its story is not the only one Britain can offer; there is a wider context of Britain in Europe, and the story of this period is one of how European Latin and French culture and ideals colonised the minds of all the British peoples. This engaging and accessible introduction offers a truly integrated perspective of medieval British history, emphasising elements of medieval life over political narrative, and offering an up-to-date presentation and summary of medieval historiography. Featuring figures, maps, a glossary of key terms, a chronology of rulers, timelines and annotated suggestions for further reading and key texts, this textbook is an essential resource for undergraduate courses on medieval Britain. Supplementary online resources include additional further reading suggestions, useful links and primary sources.

The official records of England are the focus of this volume - their origin, their use, and what they reveal. The major theme of this volume is the records of the Anglo-Norman realm, and how they are used separately and in combination to construct the history of England and Normandy. The essays cover all types of written source material,including private charters and the official records of the chancery and Exchequer, chronicles, and personal sources such as letters, while some 100 previously unpublished documents are included in a series of appendices. There arestudies here of particular Anglo-Normans, including a great aristocrat and a seneschal of Normandy; of records relating to Normandy surviving in England; of the Norman and English Exchequers, between them the financial mainstay of the king/dukes; of the controversial origins of the English Chancery records; and of Rosamund Clifford, the King's mistress. CONTRIBUTORS: NICHOLAS VINCENT, DAVID CARPENTER, DAVID CROOK, MARK HAGGER, DAVID CROUCH, MARIE LOVATT, DANIEL POWER.