This work investigates the nature and frequency of popular disturbances in early modern England to determine how agrarian and social shifts influenced the development of public order laws. Roger B. Manning utilizes extensive archival research, specifically drawing from equity court records, to analyze the intersection of economic pressure and civil unrest. By examining the period between the reign of Henry VIII and the Short Parliament, the author constructs a framework that links demographic expansion and technological change to the rise of localized protest. The study argues that these village-level conflicts were not merely chaotic outbursts but were often calculated responses to systemic changes in land tenure and resource management.

Historians and scholars of the early modern period frequently cite this text for its rigorous use of primary court records to illuminate the complexities of rural social protest. It is widely regarded as a foundational resource for understanding the legal and social mechanisms of control in 16th- and 17th-century England.