New Directions in Social and Cultural History

Review “New Directions in Social and Cultural History offers great insight into the field of social history by providing compelling examples of scholarly work that can serve as sources of information to academic disciplines beyond history … It has certainly sparked my interest to delve deeper into some of the studies and research fields mentioned in this book.” – H-Socialisms Product Description What does it mean to be a social and cultural historian today? In the wake of the 'cultural turn', and in an age of digital and public history, what challenges and opportunities await historians in the early 21st century? In this exciting new text, leading historians reflect on key developments in their fields and argue for a range of 'new directions' in social and cultural history. Focusing on emerging areas of historical research such as the history of the emotions and environmental history, New Directions in Social and Cultural History is an invaluable guide to the current and future state of the field.The book is divided into three clear sections, each with an editorial introduction, and covering key thematic areas: histories of the human, the material world, and challenges and provocations. Each chapter in the collection provides an introduction to the key and recent developments in its specialist field, with their authors then moving on to argue for what they see as particularly important shifts and interventions in the theory and methodology and suggest future developments. New Directions in Social and Cultural History provides a comprehensive and insightful overview of this burgeoning field which will be important reading for all students and scholars of social and cultural history and historiography. About the Author Sasha Handley is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Manchester, UK.Rohan McWilliam is Senior Lecturer in History at Anglia Ruskin University and author of Popular Politics in Nineteenth-Century England and the editor (with Kelly Boyd) of The Victorian Studies Reader (2007).Lucy Noakes is Rab Butler Chair of Modern History at the University of Essex, UK.