4.8 stars on Amazon. This non-fiction work gives us a vivid account of how events and circumstances played out in one location--Spessart Forest--in northwest Bavaria. Travel the road of peasant life through the centuries: through the wars, witch persecutions, famines, and heavy governance. Learn about life as a serf from the time of the earliest settlements to the time of mass emigrations; and how religion, schooling, and customs impacted on everyday existence. Read gripping stories of individuals, including stories of the author's own ancestors, which bring the forest's history to life, with page after page of fascinating revelations.