Part I. Introduction:
1. Problems, sources and methods
2. Essex: a county and its government
Part II. The face of disorder
3. The regulation of economic life
4. Drink offences
5. Sexual morality and sexual offences
6. Riot and popular disturbances
Part III. Offences against property and the person:
7. Property offences
8. Crimes of violence
Part IV. General themes and wider issues:
9. Punishment
10. Crime and the local community
11. Overall patterns of crime in Essex, 1620-80
12. Concluding observations.