Remembering Peasants: A Personal History of a Vanished World
Feb 2024 · Sold by Simon and Schuster
star
1 review
Ebook
400
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
“I had been waiting for much of my life to read this extraordinary book…there are clues and messages for every fortunate reader who picks it up.” —Annie Proulx
*A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice*
A landmark history of the peasant experience, exploring a now neglected way of life that once encompassed most of humanity, but is rapidly vanishing in our time.
“What the skeleton is to anatomy, the peasant is to history, its essential hidden support.”
For over the past century and a half, and most notably over the last seventy years, the world has become increasingly urban, and the peasant way of life—the dominant way of life for humanity since agriculture began well over 6,000 years ago—is disappearing. In this vital history of peasantry, social historian Patrick Joyce aims to tell the story of this lost world and its people, and how we can commemorate their way of life. In one sense, this is a global history, ambitious in scope, taking us from the urbanization of the early 19th century to the present day. But more specifically, Joyce’s focus is the demise of the European peasantry and of their rites, traditions, and beliefs.
Alongside this he brings in stories of individuals as well as places, including his own family, and looks at how peasants and their ways of life have been memorialized in photographs, literature, and in museums. Joyce explores a people whose voice is vastly underrepresented, and is usually mediated through others, in human history—and now peasants are vanishing in one of the greatest historical transformations of our time.
Written with the skill and authority of a great historian, Remembering Peasants is a “first-class work” (Kirkus Reviews), a richly complex and passionate history written with exquisite care. It is also deeply resonant, as Joyce shines a light on people whose knowledge of the land is being irretrievably lost during our critical time of climate crisis and the rise of industrial agriculture. Enlightening, timely, and vitally important, this book commemorates an extraordinary culture whose impact on history—and the future—remains profoundly relevant.
*A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice*
A landmark history of the peasant experience, exploring a now neglected way of life that once encompassed most of humanity, but is rapidly vanishing in our time.
“What the skeleton is to anatomy, the peasant is to history, its essential hidden support.”
For over the past century and a half, and most notably over the last seventy years, the world has become increasingly urban, and the peasant way of life—the dominant way of life for humanity since agriculture began well over 6,000 years ago—is disappearing. In this vital history of peasantry, social historian Patrick Joyce aims to tell the story of this lost world and its people, and how we can commemorate their way of life. In one sense, this is a global history, ambitious in scope, taking us from the urbanization of the early 19th century to the present day. But more specifically, Joyce’s focus is the demise of the European peasantry and of their rites, traditions, and beliefs.
Alongside this he brings in stories of individuals as well as places, including his own family, and looks at how peasants and their ways of life have been memorialized in photographs, literature, and in museums. Joyce explores a people whose voice is vastly underrepresented, and is usually mediated through others, in human history—and now peasants are vanishing in one of the greatest historical transformations of our time.
Written with the skill and authority of a great historian, Remembering Peasants is a “first-class work” (Kirkus Reviews), a richly complex and passionate history written with exquisite care. It is also deeply resonant, as Joyce shines a light on people whose knowledge of the land is being irretrievably lost during our critical time of climate crisis and the rise of industrial agriculture. Enlightening, timely, and vitally important, this book commemorates an extraordinary culture whose impact on history—and the future—remains profoundly relevant.
“I had been waiting for much of my life to read this extraordinary book…there are clues and messages for every fortunate reader who picks it up.” —Annie Proulx
*A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice*
A landmark history of the peasant experience, exploring a now neglected way of life that...
Discover more
Ratings and reviews
1 review
Jennifer Graziano
- Flag inappropriate
June 15, 2025
Normal challenges are not to be disturbed; at all touched, or have own domain entered. It's a master and leader of own life. Breathing is mastered by the toddler year because growing out of the word is the only way to bigger ones behind them. Meditating: yoga, walking and talking the same year provide strength for own schedule of busy people. Combining the words science and religion for 'let there be light" are required for psychiatrist's evaluation result of normal - defends own money well - being. To get normal results from the doctors is the only survival. These is not more from them then normal or not.
About the author
Patrick Joyce is Emeritus Professor of History at University of Manchester. He is a leading British social historian and has long been a radical and influential voice in debates on the politics and future of social and cultural history. Joyce has written and edited numerous books of social and political history, including The Rule of Freedom, Visions of the People, and The State of Freedom. He is also the author of the memoir Going to My Father’s House, a meditation on the complex questions of immigration, home, and nation. The son of Irish immigrants, Joyce was raised in London and resides beside the Peak District in England.
Patrick Joyce is Emeritus Professor of History at University of Manchester. He is a leading British social historian and has long been a radical and influential voice in debates on the politics and future of social and cultural history. Joyce has written and edited numerous books of social and po...
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
