When you live in a home built in the 1500s, you can't escape the connection to the past. Plumley sets out to learn the history of his new home and the people who made it. Taking us through his process, we bump into one of those hiccups for history scholars - what's recorded and preserved often doesn't capture the day-to-day experiences of the average person. History is the story of the wealthy often and especially in localized history like this. So he goes to another source for insight: art. Specifically, Bruegel's landscapes. It's interesting to witness what Plumley extracts from these paintings and the connections they build in his mind to his present home. This book makes you look at your surroundings differently and want to apply the same treatment to your own town.