At a time early in the twenty-first century when the nature and future of British farming is very much a matter of public debate, this volume presents an up-to-date overview of the subject between one and two thousand years ago. Its importance lies in providing an authoritative and scholarly synthesis of a great deal of research--environmental, archaeological and historical --which cumulatively makes a significant shift in the understanding of Britain and its farming peoples, of the British landscape and of farming itself.