Christopher Dyer examines the transition in the economy and society of England between 1250 and 1550. Using new sources of evidence, he demonstrates that important structural changes after 1350 built on the commercial growth of the thirteenth century. He shows that development of individual property, response to new consumption patterns, and use of credit and investment, came from the peasantry rather than the aristocracy. An Age of Transition?, a significant new work by a top medievalist, reveals how England was set on course to become the 'first industrial nation'.