In the early 1950's，historians who studied preindustrial Europe (which we may define here as Europe in the period from roughly 1300 to 1800) began， for the first time in large numbers，to investigate more of the preindustrial European population than the 2 or 3 percent who comprised the political and social elite：the kings，generals，judges，nobles，bishops，and local magnates who had hitherto usually filled history books.
    二十世紀(jì)五十年代早期，研究前工業(yè)化時(shí)代歐洲(此處我們可將其界定為約自1300年至1800年這一時(shí)期的歐洲)的史學(xué)家，首次以眾多的人數(shù)(楊鵬的書(shū)中：第一次以大量的數(shù)據(jù))，開(kāi)始調(diào)查前工業(yè)化時(shí)代歐洲人口中的大多數(shù)，而非那些構(gòu)成了政治與社會(huì)精英階層的百分之二或三的人口，即國(guó)王、將軍、法官、貴族、主教、以及地方上的達(dá)官顯貴，而正是這部分人一直到那時(shí)為止普遍充斥于史學(xué)著作。