Guided by Thomas Hardy’s wise precept that ‘it is better to know a little bit of the world remarkably well than to know a great part remarkable little’, Stephen Friar has created an essential tool for all those interested in local history.With over 2,000 entries, The Companion to Local History is the most comprehensive single-volume guide published to local history, archaeology, architecture and landscape. In an easy-to-use A–Z format, it answers many of the questions that arise in the course of local history research and travel, and provides a starting point for further enquiries.Among the entries are obscure or specialised terms that crop up in old documents – forfang, heybote, escheat – as well as longer entries on, for example, the dissolution of the monasteries, place-names, education and genealogy. From each of the major entries, a detailed system of cross-referencing leads on to subsidiary entries exploring related topics or defining specialised terms. A guide to further reading and the addresses of major organisations of interest to local historians are also included.Whether you are looking for information on frankalmoign or forests, sheriffs or shrines, this carefully researched, clearly written and fully illustrated volume will certainly be your constant companion.
