The Penguin Social History Of Britain

A portrait of 18th century England, from its princes to its paupers, from its metropolis to its smallest hamlet. The topics covered include - diet, housing, prisons, rural festivals, bordellos, plays, paintings, and work and wages.

This text offers a picture of eighteenth-century England. It ranges from princes to paupers, and from the metropolis to smallest hamlet. It offers vivid images of the thought, politics, work and recreation of Englishmen at his time.

Originally published in 1983 by Weidenfeld and Nicholson this is the third revised edition of this exploration of English society, brought up to the present day. Briggs's approach to history is to emphasize human experience rather than concepts, switching from kitchen to drawing room or garden, from field to factory.

High and popular culture; family, race, gender and class relations; sexual attitudes and material conditions; science and technology - the diversity of social developments in Britain from 1945 to 2002 are thoroughly explored in this new edition of aclassic text. 'Something of a tour de force... Without serious distortion or omission he moves dexterously through a wide variety of sources, ranging from poetry through film and novels to opinion polls.. it is astonishing how much he gets in' Times Educational Supplement 'An enjoyable, readable, usable achievement which leads the field' John Vincent, Sunday Times

The late nineteenth century and Edwardian era, suggests Jose Harris in this book, represent a sharp break with the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. Indeed, despite the intense upheavals of two world wars, it was the beliefs, social structures and oppositional forces established between 1870 and 1914 which dominated British life right up until the 1960s.

Ranging widely over time and place, Asa Briggs highlights continuities and changes in society in England from prehistory to the present day. Literature, art and politics are investigated as aspects and gauges of human experience, research in related disciplines is discussed and changes in historical interpretations explained. The author also offers his own, personal, view of social history.

An extraordinary city, London grew from a backwater in the Classical Age into an important medieval city and significant Renaissance urban center to a modern colossus--full of a free people ever evolving. Roy Porter touches the pulse of his hometown and makes it our own, capturing London's fortunes, people, and imperial glory with vigor and wit. 58 photos.