Paul Slack's incisive analysis shows how the English came to believe between 1500 and 1740 that piecemeal improvement was more likely to be achieved than total social reformation. He examines social policy and institutions such as workhouses and hospitals in order to illustrate how contemporaries tried to shape their social and moral environment, and how they defined the notion of `welfare'.

`offers advanced students and specialists in the field a concentrated survey of scholarship on the subject, set within a penetrating analysis of the way both the provision and the language of social welfare developed from the late fifteenth through the mid-eighteenth centuries.' Journal of Modern History `In its careful use of terms, its complex explanation of events and its broad grasp of concepts, From Reformation to Improvement stands as an exemplary exercise in the intellectual, social, and political history of early modern welfare.' Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXII/2 `By public welfare, Slack understands not only the broad range of public action for the public good but also the changing content of its meanings, means, and ends. It is precisely this syntactical care that distinguishes this collection.' Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXII/2 `impressive for its depth of research and for its ability to provoke thought ... From Reformation to Improvement makes significant contributions to our understanding of early modern social policies ... Slack is particularly adept at relating English social policies to developments on the continent ... His mastery of the primary sources is impressive, allowing him to flesh out as no one has previously done the connections between the authors of pamphlets and sermons and those in authority at local and national levels ... an outstanding piece of socal history ... should be required reading for anyone who thinks institutions of public welfare were once-and-for-all creations of the twentieth century.' Lee Beier, Urban History, Vol.28/1, 2001 `this important, scholarly, and subtle book.' David Harris Sacks, Renaissance Quarterly. `a rich study of the history of "civic consciousness," a deeply informed account of the governmental institutions and "agents who translated concepts into activity," and an illuminating treatment of "the practical consequences" for the provision of "manifold public servivces for the welfare of ... citizens" ... contributes to the growing body of scholarship on the history of state-building in early modern Britain and Europe.' David Harris Sacks, Renaissance Quarterly. `From Reformation to Improvement is as thought-provoking for what it suggests about recent political debates about the role of the state, the nature of public good, the reform of social mores, and the amelioration of want and suffering as for what it says about the past. It deserves the attention of all readers interested in the sometimes-noble history of efforts to reform and improve the human condition.' David Harris Sacks, Renaissance Quarterly.