Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern England

Crime and the law have now been studied by historians of early modern England for more than a generation. Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern England, however, attempts to reach further than most conventional treatments of the subject, to explore the cultural contexts of law-breaking and criminal prosecution, and to recover hidden social meanings therein. In this sense, then, it is more than just a 'history from below'; it is a history from within.

Conversely, it exploits crime to shed light on the long-term development of English mentalities in general. To this end, three serious crimes - witchcraft, coining and murder - are examined in detail using a wide range of primary sources, revealing new and important insights into how religious reform, state formation, secularization, and social and cultural change (for example, the spread of literacy and the availability of print) may have transformed the thinking and outlook of mostly ordinary people between 1550 and 1750.


'Fascinating and exhaustively-researched . . . this is a challenging and rewarding book which not only vastly expands our knowledge of criminal behaviour, but also adds texture and nuance to our understanding of the process of cultural change.'
Steve Hindle, Economic History Review

'Confident, original and illuminating . . . a fine, ambitious, attentive book which succeeds in tuning us, as Gaskill intended, to new evidential frequencies: we hear our forebears' angry and anxious voices rising from the shallows and silences of the past.'
Janet L. Nelson, History Today



'Gaskill has set a new standard for the writing of socio-legal history. But it may take a decade before it is fulfilled. His command of the sources and their language, of law and history, and of the wider context of social, anthropological and cultural thought, will not be easy for others to match.'
Louis Knafla, H-Net Reviews in the Humanities

'A pioneering monument to the complexity of early modern mental worlds and the profound shifts they underwent.'
Alexandra Shepard, Historical Journal

'An ambitious and stimulating monograph . . . a most thoughtful and valuable contribution to the history of early modern England.'
Peter Borsay, Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial und Wirtschaftsgeschichte

'An important addition to the literature on the subject which combines both painstaking scholarship and a good historical imagination . . . essential reading.'
James Sharpe, Crime, Histoires et Sociétés

'A sophisticated and insightful window into early modern ways of thinking . . . this book introduces important new perspectives on the history of crime and mentalities.'
Robert B. Shoemaker, Continuity and Change

'Adds much to our knowledge . . . Gaskill offers important new insights in relating legal to cultural history.'
Barbara Shapiro, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

'Carefully researched . . . Gaskill has a good ear and a sharp eye combined with great enthusiasm for ploughing through the sources. His passion for cultural history serves him well in sensitizing him to the quality of the evidence.'
Randall McGowen, Journal of Modern History

'Conceptually sophisticated and deeply researched, the book will deservedly occupy a central place in the literature of early modern social history.'
John Sainsbury, Choice

'Un modèle d'histoire sociale'.
Xavier Rousseaux, Annales