Irma Banks

This is a fascinating and absorbing history of how our rural ancestors in Europe actually lived. By concentrating her research in one area, a forest in central Germany, the author presents life at the individual level, avoiding a string of generalities. Peasants dealt with the harsh governance of overlords in a feudal world, as well as the threats of a dense forest with its wild animals, cutthroat thieves, and robber knights. Life is depicted from the founding of villages, starting in the 12th century, to the mass emigrations of the mid-19th century. Harsh deprivations drove individuals to poaching and there is a captivating story of one poacher who became a folk hero, beloved to this day. Because if its location in the crossroads between major battlefields during the Thirty Years War in the early 17th century, the devastation and loss of life in the villages of the forest was extensive, followed by years of extreme hardship to regain footing. Before the war, there was the horrid devastation of witch hunts and trials. There was also brightness. The author gives us the background of the myriad and charming customs that governed daily life, and how peasants adapted to hard times, even in times of famine. Spessart Forest was a mining and glassmaking region. I loved how the forest impacted on the story of Snow White (the Grimm Brothers grew up on the northern edge of the forest), even to the talking mirror and glass coffin. Spessart Roots is written in a clear and concise manner, never boring.