THE Lost Villages Of Britain.

UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,but price- clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour photographic illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+ fore-edges bright and clean,contents bright,tight and near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - an unread copy? Bright,clean and unblemished,publisher's original,plain dark green cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/ backstrip and immaculate green+white scenic photographic illustrated endpapers.UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn,12-285pp [paginated] includes prelude,12 chapters,profuse b/w aerial and scenic photographs,b/w maps+b/w diagrams (20 - majority by author) - all throughout the text and the book,16pp glossy,colour scenic photographs, in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp96/7 and pp224/5 respectively,appendices(2),an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication,contents/diagrams/colour plates lists/tables,and 2pp blanks to rear.Photographs taken by the author,Richard Muir. Few people could stand amongst the relics of a lost village and not be moved by a sense of history,melancholy and curiosity.Once regarded as rarities,it is now realised that lost villages are a characteristic feature of the British countryside. In this beautifully illustrated book,Richard Muir describes first the deserted prehistoric and Dark Ages hamlets and farmsteads,then the medieval village and its communal lifestyle.He follows this with chapters covering the different forms of medieval desertion: the horrors of the Black Death,the land clearances by the rich sheep barons and later by the Highland chiefs,and the villages removed by greedy landowners in search of stately homes and parks. Finally,Richard Muir describes the villages lost to the march of industrial progress,like the abandoned mining villages of north- east England. The searcher should not expect to find romantic,ivy-hung ruins at the typical lost village site for while dwellings crumbled and the church decayed,turf often spread like scar-tissue to seal a deserted site.At thousands of different locations,the clues which could tell the tale of the prehistoric or medieval peasant,Highland crofter or Irish feudal villager lie entombed. Apart from being an absorbing study of the lost village sites of Britain,Dr Muir's new book introduces the reader to an enormously important and beleaguered facet of the British landscape.Using contemporary sources,his own research and photographs,he brings many of these sites alive again.No one can fail to be absorbed by this fascinating book yet be concerned about our future inheritance. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!