Social History in Perspective – serie

Although in its infancy, the history of women in Wales and Scotland before and during the Reformation is now thriving. A longer tradition of historical studies has shed light on many areas of women''s experience in England. Drawing on this historiography, Christine Peters examines the significance of contrasting social, economic and religious conditions in shaping the lives of women in Britain. Gender assumptions were broadly similar in England, Wales and Scotland, but female experience varied widely. Women in Early Modern Britain, 1450-1640 explores how this was influenced by various factors, including changes in clanship and inheritance, the employment of single women, the punishment of pregnant brides and scolds, the introduction of Protestantism, and the fusion of fairy beliefs with ideas of demonological witchcraft.Peters'' text is the first comparative survey and analysis of the diversity of women''s lives in Britain during the early modern period.

This established study focuses on the most important phase of Irish migration, providing analysis of why and how the Irish settled in Britain in such numbers. Updated and expanded, the new edition now extends the coverage to 1939 and features new chapters on gender and the Irish diaspora in a global perspective.

This new study explores how British youth was made, and how it made itself, over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Urbanisation and industrialisation brought challenges that altered how young people were both perceived and understood. As adults found it difficult to comprehend the rapidity of societal change, focus on the young intensified, and they became a symbol of uncertainty about the future.Highlighting both change and striking continuity, Melanie Tebbutt traces the origins and development of key themes and debates in the history of modern British youth. Current issues such as the ageing of western societies, high levels of youth unemployment and the potential for social and political unrest make this a timely study.

This new study explores how British youth was made, and how it made itself, over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Urbanisation and industrialisation brought challenges that altered how young people were both perceived and understood. As adults found it difficult to comprehend the rapidity of societal change, focus on the young intensified, and they became a symbol of uncertainty about the future.Highlighting both change and striking continuity, Melanie Tebbutt traces the origins and development of key themes and debates in the history of modern British youth. Current issues such as the ageing of western societies, high levels of youth unemployment and the potential for social and political unrest make this a timely study.

Rural workers in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century England were not passive victims in the face of rapid social change. Carl J. Griffin shows that they deployed an extensive range of resistances to defend their livelihoods and communities. Locating protest in the wider contexts of work, poverty and landscape change, this new text offers the first critical overview of this growing area of study.

How was poverty measured and defined, and how has this influenced our judgement of the change in poverty in Britain during the first sixty years of the twentieth century? During this period, a large number of poverty surveys were carried out, the methods of which altered after World War II. Commencing with Rowntree''s social survey of York in 1899 and ending with Abel-Smith and Townsend''s Poor and the Poorest in 1965, Ian Gazeley shows how the means of evaluation and the causes of poverty changed.Poverty in Britain, 1900-1965:- Offers a comprehensive empirical assessment of all published poverty and nutritional enquiries in this era- Reports the results of recent re-examinations of many of the more famous social surveys that took place- Considers the results of these surveys within the context of changing real incomes, the occupational structure and social provision- Evaluates the extent to which the reduction in poverty was due to the actions of the State or to increases in real income (including more continuous income from fuller employment)Detailed yet easy to follow, Ian Gazeley''s book is an indispensable guide to the changing face of poverty in Britain during the first six decades of the last century.

What kinds of jobs did children do in the past, and how widespread was their employment? Why did so many poor families put their children to work? How did the state respond to child labour? What problems arise in the interpretation of evidence of child employment?Child Labour in Britain, 1750-1870- Offers a broad empirical analysis of how the work of children was integrated with the major economic and occupational changes of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain- Argues that working children occupied a unique position within the context of the family, the labour market and the state- Discusses the key issues involved in the study of children''s employmentIn this clear and concise study, Peter Kirby convincingly argues that child labour provided an invaluable contribution to economic growth and the incomes of working-class households. Consequently, the picture that emerges is much more complex than that portrayed in many traditional approaches to the subject.

Victorians liked to refer to England as 'a Christian country'. But what did this mean at the level of everyday life? The book begins with a social portrait of each of the characteristic forms of religion that flourished in Victorian England, including Anglican, Dissenters, Catholics, Jews, Secularists and the indifferent. It goes on to analyse, making extensive use of oral history, the pervasive and many-sided influence of Christianity before considering the limits of this influence. The forms of Christianity most typical of this time are then considered, with special emphasis on Evangelism at home and abroad and differences between male and female religiosity. Finally, there is an extended discussion on the religious crises of the later Victorian and Edwardian period.

In offering a wide-ranging overview of radicalism throughout the 'long' nineteenth century, from the mid eighteenth century to the aftermath of the First World War, this study contests the methods and findings of recent revisionist interpretations.Radical movements faced a more difficult task than other political formations since they sought not merely to construct an audience - to find a language which resonated with people's material needs and greivances - but to mobilise for change. Options were limited as radicals had to conform to rhetorical, organisational and cultural norms to ensure popular legitimacy and support. This volume pays particular attention therefore to contextual factors: to the changing codes and conventions of political culture and public space. Through critical engagement with revisionist and post-modernist interpretations, it throws new light on factors which often divided liberals from radicals, and indeed, radicals from themselves.This is an accessible and much-needed introduction to the new linguistic and cultural approaches to nineteenth-century popular politics.

In offering a wide-ranging overview of radicalism throughout the 'long' nineteenth century, from the mid eighteenth century to the aftermath of the First World War, this study contests the methods and findings of recent revisionist interpretations.Radical movements faced a more difficult task than other political formations since they sought not merely to construct an audience - to find a language which resonated with people's material needs and greivances - but to mobilise for change. Options were limited as radicals had to conform to rhetorical, organisational and cultural norms to ensure popular legitimacy and support. This volume pays particular attention therefore to contextual factors: to the changing codes and conventions of political culture and public space. Through critical engagement with revisionist and post-modernist interpretations, it throws new light on factors which often divided liberals from radicals, and indeed, radicals from themselves.This is an accessible and much-needed introduction to the new linguistic and cultural approaches to nineteenth-century popular politics.

In this new study, Michael Mullett examines the social, political and religious development of Catholic communities in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland from the Reformation to the arrival of toleration in the nineteenth century. The story is a sequence from active persecution, through unofficial tolerance, to legal recognition. Dr Mullett brings together original research with the new insights of specialist monographs and articles over recent years and provides indispensable information on how Britain's and particularly Ireland's, present religious situation has evolved.The book also offers a timely updated review of the role religion has played in the emergence of collective identities in Britain and Ireland between 1558-1829. Controversial and shaking some long-held assumptions, the book is strongly argued on the basis of extensive research and a review of the existing literature.

This book draws upon the existing body of literature and incorporates substantial new research to provide an interpretative overview of the social history of work in Britain from the late-Victorian period to 1950. Different theoretical frameworks are analysed and the historiography reviewed. McIvor explores the changing nature of work over 1880-1950, focusing upon the occupational profile, work conditions, the labour process, inequalities and discrimination in employment and work culture. Industrial relations and the politics of work are evaluated, and the final section probes the interaction between employment and health. This is a valuable introduction to the history of a crucial element in all our lives.

The Lollards offers a brief but insightful guide to the entire history of England's only native medieval heretical movement. Beginning with its fourteenth century origins in the theology of the Oxford professor, John Wyclif, Richard Rex examines the spread of Lollardy across much of England until its eventual dissolution amidst the ecclesiastical and doctrinal upheavals of the sixteenth century.Taking account of recent scholarship, Rex reassesses Wyclif's political career and provides a compact survey of his theology which corrects a number of current misapprehensions about it and identifies those features which help explain the hostility it aroused. Whilst endorsing the traditinal view that Lollardy was indeed the lay face of Wycliffism, the author nevertheless challenges a number of cherished myths about England's late medieval heretics. Rex controversially argues that Wyclif and the Lollards were far less important than historians and literary scholars have often claimed, and takes issue with recent attempts to restore Lollardy to its once conventional position as a 'cause' of the Reformation.Powerful and persuasive, The Lollards is essential reading for anyone interested in the movement's relationship to Wyclif's teachings, its social and geographical distribution, its political significance, and its impact on the English Reformation.

During the last twenty years there has been an explosion of new research into the development of Scotland from a small, backward country on the periphery of Europe to one poised to undergo industrialisation in step with England. This book provides an overview of key themes related to social change and economic development in early Modern Scotland aimed at demonstrating how this transformation occurred.

The Puritans of seventeenth century England have been blamed for everything from the English civil war to the rise of capitalism. But who were the Puritans of Stuart England? Were they apostles of liberty, who fled from persecution to the New World? Or were they intolerant fanatics, intent on bringing godliness to Stuart England? This study provides a clear narrative of the rise and fall of the Puritans across the troubled seventeenth century. Their story is placed in context by analytical chapters, which describe what the Puritans believed and how they organised their religious and social life. Quoting many contemporary sources, including diaries, plays and sermons, this is a vivid and comprehensible account, drawing on the most recent scholarship. Readers will find this book an indispensable guide, not only to the religious history of seventeenth century England, but also to its political and social history.

The Puritans of seventeenth century England have been blamed for everything from the English civil war to the rise of capitalism. But who were the Puritans of Stuart England? Were they apostles of liberty, who fled from persecution to the New World? Or were they intolerant fanatics, intent on bringing godliness to Stuart England? This study provides a clear narrative of the rise and fall of the Puritans across the troubled seventeenth century. Their story is placed in context by analytical chapters, which describe what the Puritans believed and how they organised their religious and social life. Quoting many contemporary sources, including diaries, plays and sermons, this is a vivid and comprehensible account, drawing on the most recent scholarship. Readers will find this book an indispensable guide, not only to the religious history of seventeenth century England, but also to its political and social history.

This concise study covers the development of education throughout Great Britain from the Industrial Revolution to the Great War: a period in which urbanization, industrialization and population growth posed huge social and political problems, and education became one of the fiercest areas of conflict in society.

Drawing upon a wide range of historical research, Family and Household in Medieval England offers a stimulating and engaging introduction to the formative period of one of the central institutions of western society. The family and household together provided the basic unit of social organisation in the Middle Ages, and this period saw the emergence of many aspects of modern life, not least the marriage service and its attendant ceremonies.The family was one of the few experiences or institutions common to every rank of medieval society, from princes to peasants. The centrality of this theme is reflected in the breadth of topics considered here, which embrace demography, the law, theology and popular belief, property-holding, employment, and, of course, love and emotional relationships. These areas are explored in a clear and accessible manner.After discussing the family in the religious and legal traditions from the late classical and barbarian periods to the Middle ages, the book adopts a 'life-cycle' approach to the history of the medieval English family, beginning with courtship and marriage, encompassing childbirth and the parent-child relationship along the way, through to the dissolution of marriage, either by death or separation, and ending with a discussion of widowhood, wardship and retirement. The text is illuminated with examples from the experiences of people from all levels of medieval soicety, reflecting the diversity of family life in this period. The history of the family touches upon the most intimate areas of life, and Fleming never forgets that it is real people, who possessed complex emotions, sensibilities and private lives, who form the heart of this study.

Why should one study urban history? Were towns the precipitating element for change in the human way of life? By examining in turn various aspects of urban history in the period 1500-1700 this book attempts to examine recent historical ideas about towns in Britain. Was the urban system in Britain a relative failure or a comparative success? What changes took place in the level of urbanization in Britain? What were the dynamics of change? What explains the appearance of new towns and the decline of once flourishing settlements? Was the growing size of some towns fuelled by new or considerably altered functions? Towns in Tudor and Stuart Britain provides students with a wide range of material on a fascinating subject.

This fascinating and wide-ranging analysis of gender and sexualities brings together the disparate literatures on demography, love and marriage, the body, homosexuality, lesbianism, and the regulation of sexuality. It makes available to both undergraduates and professionals these complex literatures in an accessible and readable form, and in the process changes our understanding of the nature of the origins and development of modern sexual roles and gender relations.

This is the first text devoted exclusively to women in Britain since 1900 which covers the whole century. The author combines evidence from primary research, with an emphasis on personal testimony, with the most up-to-date work of specialist scholars in each field. Embracing social, economic, political and cultural history, it examines the changing meaning of femininity within the broad historical time periods making up the twentieth century. Each chronological chapter maps out developments for women at work, in the family, sexuality, education, feminism and other political movements. It does not seek to provide a triumphalist history of 'great women', but instead offers an account of women's shifting identity within different social, economic and political contexts, divided by class, sexuality, ethnic background and other factors. Blending analysis with humour and emotion in real life testimony, Women in Britain since 1900 is a woman-centred history of Britain from the suffragettes to the 'Diana effect'.

This book is a lively and accessible study of English religious life during the century of the Reformation. It draws together a wide range of recent research and makes extensive use of colourful contemporary evidence. The author explores the involvement of ordinary people within, alongside and beyond the church, covering topics such as liturgical practice, church office, relations with the clergy, festivity, religious fellowships, cheap print, 'magical' religion and dissent. The result is a distinctive interpretation of the Reformation as it was experienced by English people, and the strength, resourcefulness and flexibility of their religion emerges as an important theme.

Race Relations in Britain since 1945 provides a critical overview of the origins, development and present state of race relations in Britain. Highly contentious, the field of race relations is closely related to a number of issues which are regarded to be at the very heart of contemporary British life. Professor Goulbourne draws on a variety of historical, sociological, anthropological and political analyses to construct and advance a convincing and persuasive argument about differential incorporation into British society or inequality based on colour in the imperial and colonial era as well as the contemporary period.

Today it is impossible to separate discussion of poverty from the priorities of state welfare. A hundred years ago, most working-class households avoided or coped with poverty without recourse to the state. The Poor Law after 1834 offered little more than a 'safety net' for the poorest, and much welfare was organised through charitable societies, self-help institutions and mutual-aid networks. Rather than look for the origins of modern provision, the author casts a searching light on the practices, ideology and outcomes of nineteenth-century welfare. This original and stimulating study, based upon a wealth of scholarship, is essential reading for all students of poverty and welfare. It also contains much to interest a wider readership.

Although in its infancy, the history of women in Wales and Scotland before and during the Reformation is now thriving. A longer tradition of historical studies has shed light on many areas of women's experience in England. Drawing on this historiography, Christine Peters examines the significance of contrasting social, economic and religious conditions in shaping the lives of women in Britain. Gender assumptions were broadly similar in England, Wales and Scotland, but female experience varied widely. Women in Early Modern Britain, 1450-1640 explores how this was influenced by various factors, including changes in clanship and inheritance, the employment of single women, the punishment of pregnant brides and scolds, the introduction of Protestantism, and the fusion of fairy beliefs with ideas of demonological witchcraft.Peters' text is the first comparative survey and analysis of the diversity of women's lives in Britain during the early modern period.

Although in its infancy, the history of women in Wales and Scotland before and during the Reformation is now thriving. A longer tradition of historical studies has shed light on many areas of women's experience in England. Drawing on this historiography, Christine Peters examines the significance of contrasting social, economic and religious conditions in shaping the lives of women in Britain. Gender assumptions were broadly similar in England, Wales and Scotland, but female experience varied widely. Women in Early Modern Britain, 1450-1640 explores how this was influenced by various factors, including changes in clanship and inheritance, the employment of single women, the punishment of pregnant brides and scolds, the introduction of Protestantism, and the fusion of fairy beliefs with ideas of demonological witchcraft.Peters' text is the first comparative survey and analysis of the diversity of women's lives in Britain during the early modern period.

Medieval British Towns sets out to explain the reasons for the explosion of town foundation throughout the British Isles from the twelfth century onwards and charts the subsequent development of towns through to the early sixteenth century. The raison d'etre of towns throughout the British Isles was as market places and centres of trade in an increasingly commercialised society. The comparative approach adopted here illuminates the diverging experiences of towns in the four different countries of the British Isles, but sets them within the overall context of a shared value system, where social cohesion was provided by the church. It offers a guide to students and general readers first venturing into the study of medieval urban history and provides comparative material for more experienced students of both history and the related disciplines of archaeology and historical geography.

Covering the period c.1530-c.1760, this book analyses the aims, facilities and achievements across all levels of education in England, institutional and informal, acknowledging in context the education situation in the rest of the British Isles, western Europe and North America.

Covering the period c.1530-c.1760, this book analyses the aims, facilities and achievements across all levels of education in England, institutional and informal, acknowledging in context the education situation in the rest of the British Isles, western Europe and North America.