Books in the New Studies in Economic and Social History series

This comprehensive survey of the history of the family in Western Europe and North America aims to provide a structured and balanced critique of the huge literature on the subject. It examines the strengths and limitations of the different approaches that have been adopted in the discipline and seeks connections between themes, countries and periods.

This concise volume reviews the literature on population history, and explains the different population trends evident in parts of Britain and Ireland. It examines the sometimes complex interactions between fertility, nuptiality, morality and migration, touching on a wide range of topics including plague, illegitimacy, and emigration to America.

In the course of the first half of the twentieth century, the USSR was transformed from a predominantly agrarian country into a major industrial power. This authoritative survey charts the bumpy Russian road to industrialisation and, using material from Russian archives opened since 1991, discusses the major controversies.

This accessible 1999 book focuses on the long-term process of economic change in pre-Communist China. With maps, tables and bibliography to guide the student, this concise study will provide an invaluable introduction to crucial aspects of Chinese history.

This textbook summarises the history of British trade unions between 1933 and 2000. The book discusses the key themes and controversies surrounding trade unions, including their economic impact and their influence on government. It gives students a lucid introduction to the recent history of British trade unionism.

A succinct account of changes in children's work and welfare between 1780 and 1890. It examines some of the debates which have attached themselves to those changes and discusses the role of the state and of philanthropic organisation in bringing about change.

This book considers the impact of slavery and Atlantic trade on British economic development in the generations between the restoration of the Stuart monarchy and the era of the Younger Pitt. During this period Britain's trade became 'Americanised' and industrialisation began to occur in the domestic economy. The slave trade and the broader patterns of Atlantic commerce contributed important dimensions of British economic growth although they were more significant for their indirect, qualitative contribution than for direct quantitative gains. Kenneth Morgan investigates five key areas within the topic that have been subject to historical debate: the profits of the slave trade; slavery, capital accumulation and British economic development; exports and transatlantic markets; the role of business institutions; and the contribution of Atlantic trade to the growth of British ports. This stimulating and accessible book provides essential reading for students of slavery and the slave trade, and British economic history.

Slavery remains one of the most hotly disputed topics in American history. Students of American history will find this a concise and accessible introduction to the numerous debates and viewpoints in this complex topic, and are given the chance to assess the importance, strengths and weaknesses of the various interpretations.

This latest addition to the New Studies in Economic and Social History series sheds fascinating light on an essential aspect of the history of Nazism. The social background of the supporters of Nazism has been the subject of intense debate since the early 1930s. Was the Nazi party a predominantly middle-class party or a people's party? Detlef Muhlberger provides a comprehensive summary of the answer to this question, based on extensive sociological and psephological evidence. The data support the claim made by the Nazis in the 1920s and early 1930s that their party was a Volkspartei able to mobilise support from all sections of German society. Lucidly written and clearly illustrated with numerous tables, this book will be essential reading for all those interested in modern German history.

This concise 1995 study for students shows how British agriculture was affected by and reacted to international competition in the period after 1870, an era of growing world food surpluses. The author surveys the most recent research in the field and outlines the major areas of controversy among scholars.

This book provides an incisive overview of Japanese economic history between 1868 and 1941. It introduces and surveys the current state of scholarship on Japan, touching upon almost all elements of the Japanese historical experience. A select bibliography (now updated to 1994) is provided, to help the reader pursue the subject in more detail.

Historians have long disputed whether English towns were in decline in the period 1400-1640. This book reviews the literature of the controversy, guides the reader through it, and adds new insights derived from the author's own research. This is a book both for students beginning the study of the subject and for their teachers.

Since the 1870s the British economy has steadily declined from its position as the 'workshop of the world' to that of a low-ranking European power. Michael Sanderson offers a concise and accessible analysis of the question of how far defects in education and training have contributed to this economic decline.

A useful and accessible survey of changes in British health, health services and health policy in the years during and since World War II. Examining the rise and decline of the NHS, Virginia Berridge presents students with an authoritative analysis.

This 1995 book is a concise and lucid review of the strengths and weaknesses of the British motor industry since its formation. Placing the industry firmly in a European context, the author assesses its achievements before 1960, and tests the various explanations which have been offered to explain its decline over the previous thirty years.

This is a succinct survey of the history of the American west. Focusing on issues of land use, environment, race, ethnicity, gender, business and the development of communities, the book examines the dynamics and progress of recent scholarship. It will prove invaluable for all students of American history.

This book provides a clear interpretation of the causes of demographic change in Britain in the nineteenth century. It combines an examination of migration, marriage patterns, fertility and mortality with a guide to the sources of population data available to historians and demographers.

This 2001 volume examines the growth and development of English towns in the critical period between 1650 and 1850. In this concise study Christopher Chalklin draws upon recent publications incorporating new knowledge and interpretations, providing a valuable resource for students of economic, social and urban history.

This 1995 book provides a concise account of the main features of French economic development between 1750 and 1914. Written in easily comprehensible jargon-free language, it makes clear the areas of controversy among historians, and presents succinct surveys of findings on the pattern of development and on the underlying causes of that pattern.

In this fully updated edition of his highly regarded survey of the Nazi economy (first published by Macmillan in 1982), R. J. Overy discusses the main areas of the debate concerning the performance of the German economy under the Nazi regime. He argues that the war preparation that took place was ultimately incompatible with long-term economic recovery.

In his short, authoritative study, Roy Porter assesses the impact of disease on the English before the widespread availability of medical care. Drawing together much fragmentary material, and providing a detailed bibliography, this book is an important guide to English social history and the history of medicine.

This 2002 book gives a historical and comparative perspective on family business, examining through time the different relationships within family businesses and among family enterprises. It discusses the reasons for both the decline and persistence of family business, its historical evolution, and its contribution to the growth of single economies.

This book provides an up-to-date introduction to one of the great disasters of the nineteenth century. Cormac O'Grada's concise survey places the Famine of 1846-50 in the context of the Irish economy, assesses the Famine itself, and discusses its many consequences, suggesting that a less doctrinaire attitude to famine relief could have saved many lives.

Elizabeth Roberts addresses the problems surrounding working-class women and their work, examining issues such as women and trade unions, men's attitudes, and unequal pay and status. Her book is a unique overview of a contentious area, and a full bibliography guides students to further reading.

This is the first synthesis of its kind, and Neil Tranter provides here a concise survey of the emergence of organised, codifed, recognisably modern forms of sport. He examines the key questions in this dramatic change in the cultural life of Britain, and provides a comprehensive bibliography to enable the reader to pursue these questions in greater detail.

This study combines historical research with that of social scientists to produce a concise and reliable account of the evolution of some of the most important developments in adult-child relations during the last one hundred years. It will be essential reading for students of social history, education, sociology and social policy.

The history of housing encapsulates many problems associated with the transition from a rural to an overwhelmingly urban nation. This book is the ideal introduction to a central issue in nineteenth-century history, reviewing the recent arguments and offering a guide to further reading.

This book provides the first introductory, comparative account of the rise of giant business corporations in America and Europe in the century before the Second World War. It discusses the evolution of firms like Ford, Exxon, Unilever and Siemens, as well introducing the major explanations that have been advanced in order to account for these development in the global economic order.

This textbook surveys the spectacular transformation that the French economy has undergone over the past century. It offers a general introduction to the long-term as well as more recent transformations of the French economy and surveys the major themes associated with French economic development: exceptionalism, Malthusianism and statism.

This textbook, first published in 2000, covers all forms of protest, including the Gordon Riots of 1780, food riots, Luddism, the radical political reform movement, anti-enclosure, anti-New Poor Law riots, and arson, up to the advent of Chartism in the 1830s. John E. Archer provides a concise and up-to-date introduction to this crucial topic.