The world we have lost
by Peter Laslett · first published 1965
12mentions
5recommended by
11HN commenters
2007–2023first – last mentioned
45% recommend55% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A vivid, well-documented picture of everyday life in pre-industrial England, especially village and family structure; useful for anyone wanting a grounded view of how ordinary people lived.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…page: http://www.paulgraham.com/raq.html EDIT: Here's the whole list, for completeness: Clark, Civilisation White, Medieval Technology and Social Change McEvedy, Penguin Atlases of Ancient and Medieval History Laslett, The World We Have Lost Bernal, The Extension of Man Franklin, Autobiography Girouard, Life in the English Country House Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlemagne Runciman, The Fall of Constantinople Cipolla, Guns, Sails and Empires Hadas,…
on “The IPO is dying – Marc Andreessen explains why” ↗…was assumed in Victorian England that the past looked a lot like the present of less-developed countries, like Russia. But it's not true, we have data. The quite readable book on this is Laslett, "The World We Have Lost". https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1362413/Peter-La...
on “How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels” ↗…discussing is what the situation was for the average peasant. Do you really think medieval European villages were full of guys with 5 wives? This did not happen. Edit: a good book on this is Laslett's "The World We Have Lost", see e.g. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1362413/Peter-La... I'm pretty sure that the pattern in the Roman world was also very much 1 man + 1 woman. I'm pretty sure this is the default…
on “Has an uncomfortable truth been suppressed?” ↗Read less fantasy and more history. I recommend Laslett's "The World We Have Lost" (or its second edition, "The World We Have Lost Further Explored"), for a glimpse of life a mere 200 years ago. You'll need to pay close attention and read between the lines, though.
on “CDC says teen girls are caught in an extreme wave of sadness and violence” ↗…gains'. It's true that Pikkety presents a view of social mobility becoming increasingly static, and reverting to a supposed historical norm. But one lovely book I have pg to thank for reading, "The World We Have Lost", talks about how things were in England according to an analysis of actual data (county records etc). One chapter, 'The One-Class Society' ('gentlemen' were the class, the only class that mattered),…
on “The IPO is dying – Marc Andreessen explains why” ↗There are entire sub-disciplines within history devoted to this sort of stuff. Social history. Micro-history. You could try The World We Have Lost. Or The Cheese and the Worms. Among others. Really, the options are almost infinite.
on “Why Study History?” ↗…census of the English population. Out of a population of 5.5 million, 1.3 million were "cottagers and paupers", and 2.7 were in the lowest class "Vagrants; as Gipsies, Theives, Beggers, &c." (source, The World we have lost by Peter Laslett) It's should also be noted that average heights were about 4 inches shorter than the height of a modern American. Not having good enough nutrition to reach a full height seems like…
on “Poverty Kills” ↗…than this. The commonest age for women was twenty-two, for men twenty-four; the median - the age below which as many got married as above it - was some 22.75 for women, 25.5 for men." [Peter Laslett, The World We Have Lost: Further Explored, Routledge 2001, p. 83]
on “Exhibit A – the “child pornographer”” ↗…west) but this is historically very unusual. We actually have surprisingly good records of such things, and digging them up demolished lots of commonly held beliefs. For instance Peter Laslett (The World We Have Lost) did exactly this for England.
on “You’re Descended from Royalty and So Is Everybody Else” ↗Laslett's The World We Have Lost
on “Are we domesticating human beings?” ↗…http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Technology-Social-Change-Whit... http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Atlas-Ancient-History-Hist/dp/... http://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Atlas-Medieval-History/dp/... http://www.amazon.com/World-We-Have-Lost-Explored/dp/0415315... http://www.amazon.com/Extension-Man-History-Physics-Quantum/... http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Benjamin-Franklin/dp/161... http://www.amazon.com/Life-English-Country-House-Architectur...…
on “PG's Rarely Asked Questions” ↗…google search. Probably the primary reason that multi-generational households were less common in England people married much later there than in the rest of Europe (Laslett does mention this in The World We Have Lost).
on “The New 30-Something” ↗