This significant new work by a prominent medievalist focusses on the period of transition between 1250 and 1550, when the wealth and power of the great lords was threatened and weakened, and when new social groups emerged and new methods of production were adopted. Professor Dyer examines both the commercial growth of the thirteenth century, and the restructuring of farming, trade, and industry in the fifteenth. The subjects investigated include the balance between individuals and the collective interests of families and villages. The role of the aristocracy and in particular the gentry are scrutinized, and emphasis placed on the initiatives taken by peasants, traders, and craftsmen. The growth in consumption moved the economy in new directions after 1350, and this encouraged investment in productive enterprises. A commercial mentality persisted and grew, and producers, such as farmers, profited from the market. Many people lived on wages, but not enough of them to justify describing the sixteenth century economy as capitalist. The conclusions are supported by research in sources not much used before, such as wills, and non-written evidence, including buildings. Christopher Dyer, who has already published on many aspects of this period, has produced the first full-length study by a single author of the 'transition'. He argues for a reassessment of the whole period, and shows that many features of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries can be found before 1500.

地區和地方史教授，英國國傢科學院院士，萊斯特大學英國地方史中心主任。曾先後任教於愛丁堡大學和伯明翰大學。

主要著作有《變化社會中的領主和農民：680～1540年伍斯特的主教地産》、《中世紀晚期的生活標準》、《中世紀英國的日常生活》、《中世紀的生活：850～1520年的英國人民》，以及《轉型的時代：中世紀晚期英國的經濟與社會》等。