Joseph P. Ward is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History of the University of Mississippi, USA. His previous publications include Metropolitan Communities: Trade Guilds, Identity and Change in Early Modern London and, with Robert Bucholz, London: A Social and Cultural History, 1550-1750.

"[Ward] provides us with a thorough and well-crafted study that demonstrates the importance of metropolitan charity in the social and cultural changes of the early modern period." - Reviews in History

• Introduction: Culture, Faith, and Philanthropy in Early Modern England PART I: FAITH, PHILANTHROPY, AND LONDON'S MORAL ECONOMY 1. 'And let our hearts be softned to the Poor': Personal Ambition and the Metropolitan Moral Economy 2. 'God hath bestowed that upon me': How Simon Eyre Made His Fortune 3. '[A]s the Lord had decreed': The Metamorphosis of Richard Whittington PART II: FAITH, PHILANTHROPY, AND PROVINCIAL REFORM 4. '[R]emember the place of our Nativity': Godly Londoners, Livery Companies, and Provincial Reform 5. '[B]ring this Trojan Horse ... into their Countrey': William Jones, London Haberdashers, and the Reformation of Monmouth 6. '[A] distant and alien control': Henry Colbron, London Drapers, and the Reformation of Kirkham 7. Conclusion: London and National Reform