John Cannon, known to some as 'the poor man's Pepys', was the self-taught son of a Somerset farmer. Though some episodes in Cannon's life have been partially drawn upon in other studies, this edition is the first full scale study enabling Cannon and his world to be understood in their entirety.

The manuscript he wrote over nearly 60 years offers a remarkably candid autobiography, crowded with people of all ranks in hundreds of different places, roles and occupations. His Chronicles also record virtually all aspects of change, at a social level seldom so continuously documented in any period, as they were experienced and observed in significant regions of the country, during a crucial span of British history.

Part 1 includes Cannon's unique personal account of Country Excise, in the Thames Valley, and back in Somerset. The extended Introduction places Cannon and his Chronicles in all their contexts. (Part 2 covers the period 1734-1743.)