Books published by University of Hertfordshire Press

The essays in this Festschrift are offered as a token of esteem and affection by colleagues, friends and students of David Dymond. They consist of new research on aspects of local history from the medieval period to the twentieth century, with a particular focus on Eastern England.

Letchworth Settlement, an independent adult education centre, is one of the treasures of the world's first garden city. In this lively history, former Hertfordshire County Archivist Kate Thompson looks at the wider context in which the organisation flourished, as well as notable members of staff and key events in its century of sharing knowledge.

Dr Thomas Plume, born in Maldon in Essex in 1630, is remembered today for the many bequests he left which established important scientific, religious and cultural charities. This volume provides the first comprehensive account of the life, work and philanthropy of Plume.

Together, the eastern counties of Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk have a tradition of fruit cultivation comparable in scale to that of the better-known west of England. For the first time the fascinating history of orchards in the east is revealed.

David Hey was one of the leading local historians of our age and the author of a number of highly regarded books on the practice of local history. In this collection of essays in David's memory, the contributors celebrate his commitment to the landscape, economy and society of south Yorkshire and Derbyshire, which together make up 'Hey country'.

Kathe Buchler (1876-1930) was a pioneering woman photographer whose exceptional photographs offer very personal insights into Germany during World War One, with a particular focus on the home front and the lives of women and children. This catalogue, marking the exhibition Beyond the Battlefields, contains a wide selection of Buchler's work.

This book is the first attempt to write a history of the workhouse and the ancillary welfare provision for Birmingham, frequently referred to as the `Old Poor Law'. It reveals some surprising facts which fly in the face of the scholarly consensus that the old system was incompetently administered and inadequately organised.

This book investigates what a case study of a northern market town and its rural hinterland can tell us about village differentiation, exploring how and why rural communities developed in what was chiefly an industrial region and, notably, how the relationship between town and country influenced rural communities.

Tells the story of the Oxford Playhouse. This work traces the history of this theater back to its earliest roots in a production of Agamemnon in 1880 which led to the founding of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, the rebuilding of Oxford's New Theater and, eventually, the launch of the Playhouse itself.

Presents a comparative study of regional theatre in Britain and Germany during the period of 1918 to 1945. Taking Yorkshire and Westphalia as his two representative regions, this book details the history of theatre in York, Hull, Sheffield, Bradford and Leeds as well as in Munster, Dortmund, Hagen, Bielefeld and Bochum.

Presents a re-working of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" set in the Middle East. The setting of this version of the "Hamlet" story is a modern Middle-Eastern state whose old king has just died, to be replaced by his brother, a ruthless, westernised dictator who has married the old king's wife to legitimise his rule, and calls his regime a "new democracy".

This practical and comprehensive guide provides an introduction for family historians to trace their ancestors in Hertfordshire. It is thematic in approach, the chapters incorporating related material on subjects as broad as military ancestors and the poor and the sick.