In the century after the Restoration of 1660, English provincial towns experienced a cultural renaissance. This penetrating study examines the economic and social origins which stimulated the most striking features of that revival: the transformation of the urban landscape under the influence of classical architecture and the emergent forces of planning; and the remarkable expansion in the provision of public leisure.

Concentrating on the interaction between urban culture and society as a whole, Peter Borsay draws on a wide range of disciplines, shedding new light not only on the development of the early modern town, but also on the relatively neglected period of English history between the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution. Reference material is included, in a detailed town-by-town appendix.