'Kill All the Gentlemen'

Book excerpt: The modern countryside is the result of centuries of environmental change, but also brutal class struggle. While Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt is well known, and Jack Cade and Robert Kett are remembered for their rebellions, there are countless lesser known struggles. Modern agriculture, the food we eat and how it is produced, is a direct result of these historic struggles. Martin Empson's new book rescues these forgotten moments of history and places them in the context of the political and economic changes that have taken place over the last 700 years.