This book describes the nature of English historical records over the period 1200-1800. It surveys the records created by the state, the estates of landlords, and the Church. The work arises from an intensive research project (1973-81), which involved the manual and computerised analysis of all the surviving records for two parishes, in Westmorland and Essex, up to 1800. The book considers the administrative and judicial process, which led to the compilation of the documents, the survival and quantity of each class, the location and form of the material, and the hidden omissions, inaccuracies and deceptions.