In the late 18th century, Members of the English gentry - a tiny group of roughly 1,000 households sandwiched between the ruling nobility and the peasants, and a rough analog for the contemporary "middle class" - the Pastons' experience, recorded

Covering the years from 1421 to 1484, and the lives of three generations of Pastons, the Gieses provide a rare window into the day-to-day life of this family, and the broader political and social goings-on of medieval England. We learn Readers are also treated to accounts of locally significant historical events, such as the Siege of Caister and the Battle of Barnet.