The Historic County of Lancashire once stretched from Coniston Water in the Lake District in the north to the River Mersey in the south. It was the scene of Georgian triumph and tragedy in the first Industrial Revolution, and philanthropy and civil rights struggles in the Victorian era, followed by decline, renewal and hope for the future.

From the formation of the county's terrain in the Ice Age and its earliest occupation by the Celts, through Roman occupation, the arrival of the Normans and the turbulence of civil war, Hugh Hollinghurst guides us through the ups and downs of Lancastrian history. Complete with illustrations and photographs, The Little History of Lancashire is the story of those who suffered – and those that benefited.