Modern Historians On British History 1485 1945

The twenty-five year period following the Second World War saw an enormous expansion of activity in the writing of the history of modern Britain, and with that expansion a major transformation of the state of knowledge in many parts of the area. First published in 1970, this Revivals reissue, which includes an extensive coverage of books and a reasonable selection of articles, endeavours both to survey the work done and to reduce it to some comprehensible order. It indicates achievements and probable lines of development, and collects the materials that have grown around the main controversies. Omitted are local history (in the main) and the history of empire and commonwealth, except where the latter really arises out of the affairs of the mother country. There are special sections on social history, the history of ideas, Scotland and Ireland.

Shortlisted for the 2021 Society for Army Historical Research's Templer Medal Operation Crusader, launched in November 1941, was the third and final British attempt to relieve the siege of Tobruk and break the German and Italian forces in North Africa. After tough initial fighting, the British made important gains, only to be countered by a stunning breakthrough overseen personally by Lt. General Erwin Rommel. As the British situation teetered, the commander of the 8th Army, Lt. General Alan Cunningham, was relieved of duty by his superior, General Claude Auchinleck. This decision changed the direction of the battle and perhaps the war itself. Why and how Cunningham was relieved has been the subject of commentary and speculation since it occurred. Using newly discovered evidence, Alexander Joffe rethinks the events that brought about the sudden relief of the operation's commanding officer, including insubordination. The book then discusses how narratives regarding the operation were created, were incorporated into British and Commonwealth official and unofficial historical writing about the war, and contributed to British historical memory. Based on a decade of archival work, the book presents a new and detailed analysis of a consequential battle and, importantly, of how its history was written and received in the context of post-war Britain.

The Reader's Guide to British History is the essential source to secondary material on British history. This resource contains over 1,000 A-Z entries on the history of Britain, from ancient and Roman Britain to the present day. Each entry lists 6-12 of the best-known books on the subject, then discusses those works in an essay of 800 to 1,000 words prepared by an expert in the field. The essays provide advice on the range and depth of coverage as well as the emphasis and point of view espoused in each publication.

This is a comprehensive bibliography of all printed books, articles and standard texts on England, Ireland, Scotland, the Commonwealth and the colonies up to 1970. This handbook will serve as a useful guide to scholars, teachers at all levels, advanced students, and the general reader interested in examining the period in some depth.

In this, the second edition of A Social History of England, Francois Bédarida has added a new final chapter on the last fifteen years. The book now traces the evolution of English society from the height of the British Empire to the dawn of the single European market. Making full use of the Annales school of French historiography, Bédarida takes his inquiry beyond conventional views to penetrate the attitudes, behaviour and psychology of the British people.