This volume attempts to rediscover the richness of community in the early modern world - through bringing together a range of fascinating material on the wealth of interactions that operated in the public sphere. Divided into three parts the book looks at: the importance of place - ranging from the Parish, to communities of crime, to the place of political culture, Community and Networks - how individuals were bound into communities by religious, professional and social networks the value of rhetoric in generating community - from the King's English to the use of 'public' as a rhetorical community. Explores the many ways in which people utilised communication, space, and symbols to constitute communities in early modern England. Highly interdisciplinary - incorporating literary material, history, religion, medical, political and cultural histories together, will be of interest to specialists, students and anyone concerned with the meaning and practice of community, past and present.