Books in the Themes in British Social History series

This work on crime in early modern England incorporates thinking on issues including gender and crime, and literary perspectives on crime. It uses court archives to capture the everyday lives of people who would otherwise have left little mark on the historical record.

The first edition of this text covered both the 18th and 19th centuries. This second edition closes the study in the 1830s, at a point where the Great Reform Act marked one climax of the political agitations of the late 18th century and early 19th centuries.

This text explores the beliefs and behaviour of English people across different social classes from 1550-1750. It examines different age, gender and religious groups, as well as rural and urban communities. The book focuses primarily on the majority of the population below England's social elite.

In this social history of gender roles, the author examines change in the spheres of men and women, in family life and in public activity before and during the Industrial Revolution. He re-examines the view that women had greater economic and political opportunities in pre-industrial England.

Ralph Houlbrooke's study is a contribution to debates on the family. Drawing on evidence including letters, diaries and witness statements in court cases, he reveals the attitudes and aspirations of all levels of society and challenges the fashionable notion that the years between 1450-1700 saw major changes in family structure.

This study covers the dramatic expansion of the press from the 17th to the mid 19th century. It explores the factors behind the rise of newspapers to a major force helping to reflect and shape public opinion and altering the way in which politics operated at every level of English life.

This new history examines the development of the professions in England, centering on churchmen, lawyers, physicians, and teachers. Rosemary O'Day also offers a comparative perspective looking at the experience of Scotland and Ireland and Colonial Virginia.

This text examines the development of urban government and society during a key age of transition. It looks at topics such as social class, manners, religion, gender, dissent, amenities and entertainment, and the resilience of provincial culture in the face of London's growing influence.

Part of the "Themes in British Social History" series, this volume focuses on the 20th century. Topics covered include education, poverty, health, religion, leisure, crime and popular protest, and is designed for undergraduates, postgraduates and the general reader.