Through an examination of 255 places in England, Professor McIntosh argues against the suggestion that social regulation was a distinctive feature of the decades around 1600, resulting from Puritanism, and demonstrates that concern with wrongdoing mounted gradually between 1370 and 1600. This trail-breaking study of how English people defined and attempted to control misbehavior opens up little-known sources and new research methods, challenges many historical assumptions and sheds light on the transition from early medieval to early modern patterns.