James Smith (1989) is study of this hitherto-neglected maker of colonial culture, and traces the rise and decline of the transplanted ideas and values that Smith and many of his fellow immigrants to Australia upheld. It reveals the remarkable vigour with which Smith set about making a new society out of the legacy of the old, and which saw the transformation of Melbourne from gold-rush town to Australia’s largest and most influential city in the new Federation.

A historian reveals the grittier side of Regency England, far from the country houses and costume balls of high society.Often upheld as a period of elegance with many achievements in the fine arts and architecture, the Regency era also encompassed a time of great social, political, and economic upheaval. In this insightful social history, the emphasis is on the lives of those not born into nobility—what it was like for the poor, and what challenges they faced....

"A lively survey…her research and insights make us conscious of how we, today, use books."—John Sutherland, The New York Times Book ReviewTwo centuries before the advent of radio, television, and motion pictures, books were a cherished form of popular entertainment and an integral component of domestic social life. In this fascinating and vivid history, Abigail Williams explores the ways in which shared reading shaped the lives and literary culture of the e...

This dramatic social history follows the struggle for women's rights in England from the Industrial Revolution to the Suffragist victory after WWI.The 100 years from 1819-1919 saw remarkable change for women in England. From the early nineteenth century, when women were not even considered 'persons' under the law, they achieved full legal rights and status. The doors of education and employment were thrown open to them, and by 1919, they won universal suffrage....

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSurnames are much more than convenient identity tags; they are windows into our families’ pasts. Some suggest ancestral trades (Butcher, Smith, Roper) or physical appearance (Long, Brown, Thynne). Some provide clues to where we come from (McDonald, Evans, Patel). And some – Rymer, Brocklebank, Stolbof – offer a hint of something just a little more exotic or esoteric.All are grist to the mill for David McKie who, in Wh...

The engrossing real life story of how Queen Victoria's favourite son, Prince Alfred, undertook the most ambitious Royal tour, only for Australia's overwhelming joy of having the first Royal on its shores jolted by his decadent behaviour, then shocked by an attempted assassination by a man trained as a priest.The British Empire's youngest and most distant outpost found itself at the epicentre of a new crime and empirical fears about the first inter-continental terrorist group, a con...

Britain in 1846 was a nation in the grip of dramatic change.As the Industrial Revolution reached its height, people were flooding from countryside to city; the railways were spreading; starvation and destitution existed alongside immense wealth and power, generating profound social tensions.And seismic change was afoot in the world of politics. Parliament's repeal of the protectionist Corn Laws eroded the powers of the landowners and ushered in an age of free trade that wou...

A comprehensive introduction to researching British criminal history with information on national and local archives that family historians can use.Did you have a criminal in the family, an ancestor who was caught on the wrong side of the law? If you have ever had any suspicions about the illicit activities of your relatives, or are fascinated by the history of crime and punishment, this is the book for you.Stephen Wade's useful introduction to this fascina...

A practical and informative guide for family historians interested in researching their British ancestry through social welfare records.Many family historians will come across direct links to ancestors who were affected by poverty. Yet despite the burgeoning interest in genealogy, the history of pauperism and of poor relief has rarely been written about. Tracing Your Pauper Ancestors provides a guide to documents and records that family researchers...

In this sequel to his critically acclaimed King Dan, Patrick Geoghegan examines the latter part of O'Connell's life and career. Daniel O'Connell, often referred to as The Liberator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century. One of the most remarkable historical figures in Irish history, he campaigned for Catholic Emancipation, including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament, and repeal of the Act of Union which combined Great Britain and Ir...

Romanticism is where the modern age begins, and Hazlitt was its most articulate spokesman. No one else had the ability to see it whole; no one else knew so many of its politicians, poets, and philosophers. By interpreting it for his contemporaries, he speaks to us of ourselves - of the culture and world we now inhabit. Perhaps the most important development of his time, the creation of a mass media, is one that now dominates our lives. Hazlitt's livelihoo was dependent on it. As the biogra...

In the first modern biography of Lord Mansfield (1705-1793), Norman Poser details the turbulent political life of eighteenth-century Britain's most powerful judge, serving as chief justice for an unprecedented thirty-two years. His legal decisions launched England on the path to abolishing slavery and the slave trade, modernized commercial law in ways that helped establish Britain as the world's leading industrial and trading nation, and his vigorous opposition to the American colonists st...