"Literacy in Early Modern Europe" is an analysis of that momentous change in European society from widespread illiteracy in 1500 to mass literacy by 1800. The book explores the importance of education, literacy and popular culture in Europe during this critical transitional period and reveals their relationship to political, economic and social structures as both more complex and revealing than is usually believed. The value of the book lies in Dr Houston's use of material in all European languages; and his concentration on the experiences of ordinary men and women. What emerges is social history of early modern Europe itself.