The home and the family in history are a fascinating subject area, but one which few writers have touched. Norah Lofts, the author of many popular historical novels, vividly describes in this book the day-to-day life of the people in England from the time of the Norman Conquest to the present day: their houses, clothes, tables manners, furniture, food, medicine, sanitation (or lack of it), attitudes to the family and to neighbours - all the details of ordinary living which together bring the past alive again.