"Highly recommended." - Choice "Kumin's book is a welcome survey of an important topic and makes a significant contribution to both scholars and students alike." - Ezra L. Plank, Communal Societies

An essential introductory survey of the towns, villages and parishes in which people lived in the medieval and early modern periods. Beat Kumin assesses the similarities, differences and the wider significance of these communities for European society prior to 1800.