books which helped me understand the feudal life, and why it was so bad

terry pratchett - interesting times

barry hughart - master li and number 10 ox (any of the three, specifically 1 & 2)

david graeber - debt

the feudal world is nice from the top down, but is sh!t bottom up

in the  best of times,  it wards off death by murder,  and starvation

in the worst of times, it is exactly the same as in the wild

 the feudal lords turn predator to a captive prey

the premise of the 'kingdom' series is that the feudals squeeze the vassals so much that they resort to cannibalism

also, from '7 samurai'

What do you think of farmers? You think they're saints? Hah! They're foxy beasts! They say, "We've got no rice, we've no wheat. We've got nothing!" But they have! They have everything! Dig under the floors! Or search the barns! You'll find plenty! Beans, salt, rice, sake! Look in the valleys, they've got hidden warehouses! They pose as saints but are full of lies! If they smell a battle, they hunt the defeated! They're nothing but stingy, greedy, blubbering, foxy, and mean! God damn it all! But then who made them such beasts? You did! You samurai did it! You burn their villages! Destroy their farms! Steal their food! Force them to labor! Take their women! And kill them if they resist! So what should farmers do? (begins crying) Damn...