The Population History of Britain and Ireland 1500–1750

This concise volume reviews the literature on population history, and explains the different population trends evident in parts of Britain and Ireland. It examines the sometimes complex interactions between fertility, nuptiality, morality and migration, touching on a wide range of topics including plague, illegitimacy, and emigration to America.

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Over the past thirty five years population history has been one of the most important growth areas within the flourishing field of social and economic history. Our understanding of demographic history in the period before the Industrial Revolution has been transformed. The amount of literature which has been produced is daunting both in its volume and its complexity. In this concise volume for students Dr Houston reviews the literature and explains the different population trends evident in parts of Britain and Ireland. He sets out the sometimes complex interactions between fertility, nuptiality, morality and migration in a clear and comprehensible way, and explains why the mechanisms which balanced population and resources in England were not found in Scotland and Ireland.