Across the humanities and the social sciences, disciplinary boundaries have come into question as scholars have acknowledged their common preoccupations with cultural phenomena ranging from rituals and ceremonies to texts and discourse. Literary critics, for example, have turned to history for a deepening of their notion of cultural products; some of them now read historical documents in the same way that they previously read "great" texts. Anthropologists have turned to the history of their own discipline in order to better understand the ways in which disciplinary authority was constructed. As historians have begun to participate in this ferment, they have moved away from their earlier focus on social theoretical models of historical development toward concepts taken from cultural anthropology and literary criticism. Much of the most exciting work in history recently has been affiliated with this wide-ranging effort to write history that is essentially a history of culture. The essays presented here provide an introduction to this movement within the discipline of history. The essays in Part One trace the influence of important models for the new cultural history, models ranging from the pathbreaking work of the French cultural critic Michel Foucault and the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz to the imaginative efforts of such contemporary historians as Natalie Davis and E. P. Thompson, as well as the more controversial theories of Hayden White and Dominick LaCapra. The essays in Part Two are exemplary of the most challenging and fruitful new work of historians in this genre, with topics as diverse as parades in 19th-century America, 16th-century Spanish texts, English medical writing, and the visual practices implied in Italian Renaissance frescoes. Beneath this diversity, however, it is possible to see the commonalities of the new cultural history as it takes shape. Students, teachers, and general readers interested in the future of history will find these essays stimulating and provocative.

"Our contemplation of London must begin, as London began, at the river. The River Thames is a slow moving and rather murky body of water, flowing west to east, about a quarter to an eighth of a mile wide as it passes through the city. To this day, the sinewy thread of the Thames is London's most notable topographical feature, the curving line around which the metropolis orientates itself. As we have seen, this was not by chance. The Romans founded London in imitation of their own great capital city so that London, like Rome, sits on its river at exactly the spot where it narrows enough to bridge (see Map 1). That confluence of west-east river and south-north bridge made London both a military choke-point and an economic funnel long before our arrival sometime in 1550"--

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This new edition of a bestselling textbook is designed for students, scholars, and anyone interested in 20th century fashion history. Accessibly written and well illustrated, the book outlines the social and cultural history of fashion thematically, and contains a wide range of global case studies on key designers, styles, movements and events. The new edition has been revised and expanded: there are new sections on eco-fashion, fashion and the museum, major changes in the fashion market in the 21st century (including the impact of new media and retailing networks), new technologies, fashion weeks, the rise of asian fashion centers and more. There are twice as many illustrations. In its second edition, A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th and 21st Centuries is the ideal introductory text for all students of fashion.

Images of English was the first book to focus exclusively on opinions about the language as they have evolved through time. Through the use of abundant quotations, Richard Bailey lets voices from the past speak to our present assumptions and challenges the notion of English triumphalism throughout the world and the ages. The book offers a unique historical perspective on attitudes towards the language. We see that journalists who fill anxious columns on slow news-days with fulminations on linguistic deterioration are embellishing centuries of complaint; that women who campaign for a language free of patriarchy and suited to themselves express a yearning first conveyed long ago; that teachers who recommend the vigour of Anglo-Saxon words are sustaining an idea that emerged four hundred years ago in notions about racial purity.

For better or worse, E.P. Thompson’s monumental book The Making of the English Working Class has played an essential role in shaping the intellectual lives of generations of readers since its original publication in 1963. This collected volume explores the complex impact of Thompson’s book, both as an intellectual project and material object, relating it to the social and cultural history of the book form itself—an enduring artifact of English history.

The second edition of the book, with its emending and updated text, provides a glimpse into the English life and culture, starting from the middle ages to the twenty-first century. As the English life and culture are inextricably interwoven with the literary traditions of England and its myriad aspects, this study provides significant insights into the field of English literature and the contexts it emerges from. The text begins with a description of English life and culture from the Medieval period to the Renaissance. The author gives a masterly analysis of such subjects as Feudalism, Medieval Drama and literature, the Renaissance, the Reformation and most significantly, the Elizabethan Theatre. A new sub-section on 'Women Writers of the Renaissance' has been added to this chapter. Then, the text goes on to describe in detail about the Restoration Period and the Age of Reason. Besides, the book gives a wealth of information on important topics like Romanticism, the Industrial Revolution, Victorianism and Victorian literature. The text concludes with a chapter that deals on Modernism, Literature and Culture in the Postmodern World, and Aspects of Contemporary Culture and Society. In the last chapter, two sub-sections have been introduced on 'British Fiction in the Twenty-First Century' and 'Brexit'. What distinguishes the text is the provision of a Glossary at the end of each chapter, which gives not only the meaning and definition of the terms but also provides the entire cultural background and the history that these terms are associated with. Students of English literature—both undergraduate honours and postgraduate students—will find this book highly informative, enlightening, and refreshing in its style. In addition, all those who have an abiding interest in English life and culture will find reading this text a stimulating and rewarding experience TARGET AUDIENCE • BA (Hons.) English • MA English Literature/English