For anyone interested in history, expecially as it pertains to the common man, for anyone who loves anything about England, for anyone who truly loves the land and enjoys discovering new ways to live along with, Dorothy Hartley's _Lost Country Life_ is a found treasure. It serves up the history of English country folk in a pleasant and educational way, laced together with verses by Thomas Tusser, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Morris, and other ancient writers. In particular, Tusser's verses open each chapter with a consideration of each month's duties in the agricultural year. Ms Hartley has chosen to take us through month by month to give us a genuine feel for the concerns of those living a rural life. she supplies wonderful details how things were accomplished back before there were gas engines and hardware stores.

If you enjoyed the American Fox Fire series, if you have ever been tempted to try an antiquated way of doing something just to see what it was like, if you've ever wondered how people went about dyeing their clothing, or how to get from flax to linen, or how they made those dumpy-looking little straw bee hives, this book is for you.

This wonderfully detailed book of the common man as he lived before the electric light, before factories and before mechanized travel provides fascinating reading for anyone who wants to fully appreciate the past. The author delves deeply into the atmophere and know-how of our ancestors and their existence. To read this book is to travel to a quieter time in which the seasons and the heavens were the parameters of living and in which every commodity was either home- or handmade. Dorothy Hartley unlocks the secrets of building a home, tending the land and soil, raising livestock, making candles, weaving, sewing and tending hearth and home. Absolutely mesmerizing in its scope and detail and evocative of the past we all share and almost remember!