Lowestoft, 1550-1750

The book certainly lives up to the aims of the series. On a wider plane, social and economic historians will find plenty to interest them, especially those who specialise in smaller towns. [...] The Boydell Press should also be congratulated on producing a handsome volume, and readers will be struck by Lowestoft's good fortune in having such fine images of its early history. The book will be used not only by local historians, but also by academics attracted by this absorbing case-study, and by the thoroughness of its tireless historian. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW * A richly detailed and ambitious study. [...] As a result of its wider perspective, and the impressive research on which it rests, this study presents a convincing and coherent view of a local maritime community. Provides a detailed survey of the changing fortunes and structures of community life, which examines in a careful and nuanced way the relationship between sea and land and the contribution it made to the fashioning of an urban identity. * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY * A well-documented account of how a Suffolk seaside settlement in 1550 emerged as a thriving port and small town by 1750. [...] The Boydell Press has done an excellent job. [...] This is an essential book for all urban historians and indeed for all early modernists. It is also a good tool for family historians. * CEAS NEWSLETTER * An obvious labor of love by a longtime resident and schoolmaster, is likely to remain the standard account of this town's social and economic, if not political, history in the era at hand. * JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES * The documentation is impeccable and comprehensive [.] a model of its kind. * THE LOCAL HISTORIAN * A thorough and deeply researched study. * SUFFOLK LOCAL HISTORY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER * A superbly researched study.... An excellent addition not only to the history of Suffolk but of early modern society and economy more generally. -- Professor RICHARD SMITH, University of Cambridge.