If you are teaching a course in twentieth-century europe, modern, or social and cultural history and would like to order a complimentary exam copy to inspect for use on your course, please follow this link.

A Social History of Twentieth-Century Europe offers a systematic overview on major aspects of social life, including population, family and households, social inequalities and mobility, the welfare state, work, consumption and leisure, social cleavages in politics, urbanization as well as education, religion and culture. It also addresses major debates and diverging interpretations of historical and social research regarding the history of European societies in the past one hundred years.

Organized in ten thematic chapters, this book takes an interdisciplinary approach, making use of the methods and results of not only history, but also sociology, demography, economics and political science. Béla Tomka presents both the diversity and the commonalities of European societies looking not just to Western European countries, but Eastern, Central and Southern European countries as well. A perfect introduction for all students of European history.
 

More than ever the value of the past is simultaneously recognised and under attack. Who decides what is history and how it should be presented are timely issues. The Public History Reader is the first international reader to explore public history as an everyday practice, combining key texts and material not available either online or in journals.

If you are teaching a course in public history, historiography, history or heritage studies and would like to receive a complimentary copy to inspect, please follow this link.
 

Drawing on theory and practice from five continents The Public History Reader offers clearly written accessible introductions to debates in public history. It places people, such as practitioners, bloggers, archivists, local historians, curators or those working in education, at the heart of history-making. Kean and Martin explore public history as an everyday practice rather than simply as an academic discipline - the idea that historical knowledge is discovered and accrued from everyday encounters people have with their environments and the continuing dialogue that the present has with the past.

This fully revised and updated third edition of Thatcher and Thatcherism examines the origins and impact of ‘Thatcherism’ as a cultural construct and an economic creed from the 1970s to the formation of a coalition government in 2010.

The ideal companion for courses covering British politics and contemporary British history, request your complimentary copy today.
 

Now in its third edition, Evans has updated his text to incorporate research on Thatcher's legacy and the impact of Thatcherism on successive govenments inclduing Major, the New Labour era and today's coalition. Evans argues that Thatcherism was a bold experiment in ideologically driven government and that despite Thatcher’s political dominance, Thatcherism failed to meet its main objectives.

With comprehensive suggestions for further reading and explanation of the economic, social and historical context of Britain in the late 1970s and 1980s, Thatcher and Thatcherism is an invaluable guide to the complexities and paradoxes of Britain from the late 1970’s to the present day.
 

Click here to view sample pages from Thatcher and Thatcherism.

We're pleased to announce our great new Women's and Gender History Catalogue, and your chance to win* £100/$150 worth of books* Follow this link to enter.

The catalogue is an overview of our Women's and Gender History titles and includes forthcoming, new and key titles as well as our series Women's and Gender History and Routledge Research in Gender and History.
 

*Please read our T&Cs before entering.

What is gender? A question that provokes much debate in contemporary society and whose answers influence not only analysis of our own social practices, but historical analysis across all periods. But have our own notions of gender affected our understanding of past societies?

Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe is an attempt to challenge the canonical gender concept while trying to specify what gender really meant in the medieval and early modern world. Analysing certain useful notions, such as patriarchy and morality, and seeking to deepen this analysis into studies of female identities in various cultures and dimensions, Muravyeva and Toivo illustrate the fluidity and flexibility of what is called femininity today. In addition, rethinking narratives through case-studies from Northern Europe, Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe explores how conventional ideas of gender did not work in this particular region.

For our Finnish fans, Marianna and Raisa will be hosting a book launch event at the University of Tampere on Saturday, 2nd March 2013 from 9.30am . Featuring an open discussion with volume contributors and review editors from the journals Social History, Scandinavian Journal of History and Renaissance Studies, it promises to be a day of stimulating debate.

Villain, double-crosser, cold-hearted murderer, hero of battle, victim of history, - whatever the verdict, there is no doubting that the last king of the House of York has been portrayed through pages, plays, songs and stories in many, many ways.

For those wishing to learn a little more of this enigmatic figure, David Hipshon's Richard III by is the ideal companion to guide you through the life and times of the last of the Plantagenets.
 

"…this will I think now become the biography of choice on Richard and justifiably so." – Richard Brown, The Historical Association

If you missed the Channel 4 documentary 'The King in the Car Park' view it here.

Taking place at the University of Freiburg from 7th to 9th February 2013, this year’s Swiss Congress of Historical Science will explore the impact of the local-global dichotomy in history and historical research.

Routledge History authors Francisca de Haan and Karen Offen will take to the stage on Saturday 9th February, bringing their wealth of experience on global feminist movements and women’s activism to a panel on “Balancing Local and Global Concerns in International Women's Organizations”. Join them from 3pm for papers on the Nederlandse Vrouwenbeweging, the Women's International Democratic Federation and the International Council of Women.

You can read more about the conference, and Francisca's and Karen’s papers here.

Francisca is the editor of Women’s Activism (Routledge, 2012),
Karen is the editor of Globalizing Feminisms, 1789-1945 (Routledge, 2009) and a contributor to Women’s Activism.

Tomorrow marks the 232nd anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens, site of a crucial American victory during the American Revolutionary War.

Cowpens National Battlefield, South Carolina will be hosting an anniversary celebration this coming weekend, 19-20 January 2013. Featuring living history encampments and lantern-lit walks, you can also join Routledge author Melissa A. Walker who will be reading from her newly published book, The Battles of Kings Mountain and Cowpens. Melissa will also be signing copies.

You can read more about the celebrations and Melissa’s reading here.
 

The holiday was actually entered into law in 1983, but first observed in 1986 and falls on the third Monday of January each year which is around King's actual birthday on 15th January.

If you're interested to read more, Martin Luther King by Peter J. Ling is an ideal introduction and is a part of our Routledge Historical Biographies series.

Author Bios

Dr Hilda Kean is former dean and director of public history at Ruskin college, Oxford where she established the first MA in Public History in Britain. Her books include London stories. Personal Lives, Public Histories and People and Their Pasts - Public History Today with Paul Ashton.

Dr Paul Martin was tutor in public history at Ruskin college, Oxford 1997-2012. He is currently a distance learning tutor with the School of Museum Studies, Leicester University. His books include Popular Collecting and the Everyday Self and The Trade Union Badge.

Praise for The Public History Reader

“Kean and Martin's volume will be invaluable for anyone interested in public history. It is characterised by its generous reach: it includes work and ideas from many countries; it stresses the diverse forms public history takes and the range of communities that actively participate in making it; it shows how it can be innovative and challenge settled assumptions about both the past and its representation. This book will help its readers think in an engaged yet critical manner about the processes and social practices underpinning public history, and its complex, sometimes disturbing resonances in everyday life, for example, when atrocities need to be recognised and understood. Hilda Kean and Paul Martin have provided an extremely useful point of access to one of the most lively and important parts of history today." - Ludmilla Jordanova, King's College London, UK

Further Reading

Visit Kean's website where her blog expands on issues of public history and you can read about Hilda's recent involvement in the campaign against the desrtruction of student files at Ruskin college.

Routledge Major Works WINTER BACKLIST OFFER! (from 12/12/12 – 12/3/13)

There is a fantastic range of titles on offer from subject areas such as Allied Health, Asian Studies, Business, Economics, Education, History, Linguistics, Literature, Media, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Religion and Sociology.

This eclectic mix of titles includes collections on Mao Zedong, Sufism, Marketing Research, Journalism, Radio, French Feminists, War and Human Rights.

Click here to download our list of 50 titles currently available to purchase!

To receive 20% off simply add your selection of books to your cart, place MWINTER20 into the Discount code field and then “Update Cart”!

This particular offer really shows the scope and range of Routledge Major Works-an essential reference teaching programme for your library.