This study investigates the fundamental shift in charitable giving and social welfare priorities in England between 1480 and 1660. W. K. Jordan, a prominent historian of the Tudor and Stuart periods, utilizes extensive archival research of wills and charitable bequests to document how private philanthropy replaced medieval ecclesiastical charity. The work argues that this transition reflects a broader secularization of social responsibility and the emergence of a new middle-class ethos regarding public welfare.

Historians frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the development of the English welfare state and the history of private charity. While some modern scholars debate the specific quantitative methods employed, the book remains a standard reference for the social and economic history of the early modern period.