Field and the Forge: Population, Production, and Power in the Pre-Industrial West

The Field and the Forge offers an innovative approach to the pre-industrial history of Europe and the Mediterranean basin from Roman times through to the Industrial Revolution. This wide-ranging analysis demonstrates how technology changed the scope of state and empire building, and explores why this scope was realized in the ancient world rather than the medieval west. This work not only considers the who and what of history, but provides a clear demonstration of why things happened.