MU Libraries New Books: History - Great Britain

About the new book list

11/4/2009

The RSS feeds for the new books list is updated every Wednesday and contains a list of books added to the Ellis Library collection for the last six weeks. The titles are grouped by call number classification, and are listed by week and alphabetically by title.

Books for the most recent weeks are currently on the New Books Shelves inside the north entrance of Ellis Library. They can be checked out.

The lost cartulary of Bolton Priory : an edition of the Coucher Book and charters / edited by Katrina J. Legg. (11/4/2009)

11/4/2009

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A companion volume to the Bolton Priory Compotus, published in 2000, this book brings together the texts of the existing documents - the Coucher Book, a transcription of the now-lost chartulary, and surviving original charters - in a comprehensive and accessible form. The introduction discusses the Order of St Augustine and religious life at the priory, its foundation and connection with Huntingdon priory, and the records the book presents.

Call #: DA670.Y59 Y6 v.160

A history of modern Britain : 1714 to the present / Ellis Wasson. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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Martin Daunton, University of Cambridge

"Drawing on a vast range of recent scholarship in disparate fields – including politics, society, culture, national identity, economics, gender and religion – this carefully crafted volume provides a remarkably accessible yet academically significant overview of Britain’s last 300 years. Attractively jargon free and peppered with well-chosen anecdotes and biographical details, it is one of those rare books that will prove invaluable to students and experts alike."
–Phillip Salmon, The History of Parliament

"It is an extraordinarily well-organized account; cleverly, even slyly, written to engage students at all levels. Wasson’s felicity with recent scholarship makes this the best Modern Britain text to appear in decades."
–Ronald K. Huch, Eastern Kentucky University

Call #: DA470 .W37 2010

Caldecote : the development and desertion of a Hertfordshire village / Guy Beresford with contributions by Alistair Barclay ... [et al.]. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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At just 132 hectares (325 acres), the parish of Caldecote is one of the smallest parishes in Hertfordshire. Today the settlement comprises the manor house, until recently surrounded by a range of traditional farm buildings, together with six labourer's cottages and the church. To the north lies the site of the old rectory and the earthworks of a medieval settlement. In 1973 the Department of Environment and the Deserted Medieval Village Research Group arranged a rescue excavation to examine the earthworks of the medieval village before they were levelled and ploughed. Five crofts, the old rectory site and much of the moated enclosure were investigated in one of the largest excavations ever conducted on a later medieval rural site in Britain. Though the excavations did recover a Bronze Age beaker burial and small quantities of Roman and Iron Age pottery, the medieval settlement at Caldecote was probably founded in the 10th century, and by the time of the Domesday Survey there was a church, a priest and nine villeins. A moated site was added in the 13th century. A century later, Caldecote was granted to the abbots of the Benedictine monastery in St Albans, at a time when there were seventeen householders. Early in the second half of the 14th century, the estate and demesne were subdivided into six farms, each complete with a hall-house and two or more barns. Following the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, the manor was again held by an absentee lord and the farms continued to prosper. However, the late 16th and early 17th centuries, for which there are several surviving wills and inventories, saw their gradual abandonment. After the desertion of Caldecote Marish in 1698, Caldecote was farmed as a single unit until 1970, when the estate was attached to that adjoining the manor of Newnham. Of particular importance from Caldecote is the archaeological evidence for medieval peasant structures, the development of the later medieval domestic plan and the structural transformation of post-medieval period houses including the insertion of chimneys and second storeys. The medieval and later pottery assemblage is of regional importance for its size and the range of fabrics represented. The metalwork comprises many objects of personal adornment, household utensils, and tools for woodwork, agriculture and the manufacture of textiles. Other finds include copper-alloy objects both domestic and agricultural, whetstones, quernstones, mortars and clay pipes. Although the economy of Caldecote was always dependant on arable farming, the faunal remains elucidate aspects of the medieval diet and details of the livestock maintained on the holdings.

Call #: DA670.C14 B47 2009

Cambourne new settlement : Iron Age and Romano-British settlement on the clay uplands of West Cambridgeshire / by James Wright ... [et al.] with contributions from Michael J. Allen ... [et al.] illustrations by S.E. James. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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This publication presents the results of 12 excavations within the Cambourne Development Area, a new settlement on the clay 'uplands'to the west of Cambridge. The excavations revealed evidence for intermittent human occupation of the Cambourne landscape from at least the Middle Bronze Age to the present day but mostly of Middle Iron Age to Romano-British date. From the Middle Iron Age, the Cambourne landscape was settled by small farming communities occupying roundhouses, set within enclosures linked by droveways to extensive field systems. Apart from the largest and most complex site investigated, at Lower Cambourne, the Late Iron Age seems to have seen something of a recession with abandonment of earlier settlements probably as a result of increased waterlogging making farming less viable. From the middle of the 1st century AD, new settlements consisting of roundhouses set within enclosures and field systems emerged. Three 'placed deposits' comprised pewter vessels, glass vessels, and the iron elements of a plough. Stock raising and some arable cultivation seem to have formed the main constituents of the economyand settlement may have continued into the early 5th century There appears then to have been a hiatus until the 12th or 13th century when the entire area was taken into arable cultivation leaving the ubiquitous traces of medieval ridge and furrow agriculture.

Call #: DA670.C2 C36 2009

Captain Rock : the Irish agrarian rebellion of 1821-1824 / James S. Donnelly, Jr. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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Review

“Donnelly’s knowledge of Irish rural society is both broad and deep, and this is by far the most thorough and insightful study of this tragic, complex, and very important episode in pre-famine Irish history.”—Kerby Miller, author of Emigrants and Exiles

“No account of pre-famine Ireland will be considered even remotely complete without taking on board the findings of this excellent book. Accessibly written and often elegant, Captain Rock will appeal not only to historians of Ireland but also to specialists in political violence and official responses to it.”—Thomas Bartlett, author of The Fall and Rise of the Irish Nation

Call #: DA975 .D66 2009

Cosmopolitan nationalism in the Victorian Empire : Ireland, India and the politics of Alfred Webb / Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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Review

'A fascinating account of an important, though hitherto neglected figure in Irish political life. Scholarly and lucidly written, it spans the range of Webb's activities and influences as a humanitarian reformer, activist and man of letters, both in Ireland and internationally, and provides a thoughtful interpretation of his personality. It is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the period.' - Carla King, St. Patrick's College, Dublin City University

Call #: DA952.W43 R44 2009

Elizabeth of York / Arlene Naylor Okerlund. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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Review

“Arlene Okerlund's lucid biography of Elizabeth of York draws on detailed research to provide a long overdue account of the tumultuous life of one of England's best loved queens. It is a compelling tale of Renaissance culture and ritual, intrigue and tragedy.”-- J. L. Laynesmith, Author of The Last Medieval Queens

“This work aims to rescue the queen from the perception that she was a merely marginal player in the establishment of the Tudor dynasty. Forced to negotiate complex family relationships while maintaining a loving relationship with her husband and king, Okerlund’s Elizabeth emerges as a figure central to the accomplishments of the first Tudor court, so much so that her early death produced a catastrophe from which Henry never recovered. Okerlund’s biography produces a lively narrative and a credible portrait of the queen’s character together with a meticulous reassessment of the available evidence.”--Gordon Kipling, Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles

Call #: DA330.8.E44 O44 2009

Fields of fire : a life of Sir William Hamilton / David Constantine. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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A prize winning author paints a fascinating portrait of one of the 18th-century's most colorful characters: Sir William Hamilton. Hamilton represented the epitome of honorable public service. But he is remembered not as a scholar, diplomat, and connoisseur of culture, but for his part in the most scandalous menage a trois of the century: as the cuckolded husband of Emma Hamilton, mistress of the heroic Lord Nelson. For the first time, Hamilton's unpublished notebooks are used to shed new light on the events.

Call #: DA483.H32 C66 2002

Neville Chamberlain / Nick Smart. (10/28/2009)

10/28/2009

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Neville Chamberlain, the Conservative Prime Minister who pursued the doomed policy of appeasing Hitler, is one of the most reinterpreted of modern British Prime Ministers.

Infamous on account of his declaration of having achieved ‘peace for our time’, Neville Chamberlain has often been portrayed as a social reformer out of sync with the times in which he lived. In this new biography, Nick Smart offers a picture conditioned more by the opinions of contemporaries than by hindsight, examining Chamberlain's life, career, achievements and failures. Stressing that the system in which Chamberlain found himself operating had more impact on the historical developments than anything he did personally, Smart describes a man who was hardworking but ultimately out of his depth, destined to be remembered in history as the fall-guy to Winston Churchill’s hero.

Presenting Chamberlain's life and politics in a nuanced way, Nick Smart's biography is a must read for anyone interested in British politics and its impact on the international stage.

Call #: DA585.C5 S63 2010

Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales : life, death & commemoration / edited by Steven Gunn and Linda Monckton. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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Prince Arthur (1486-1502), son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, was the great hope of early Tudor England. Today he is largely forgotten, remembered only as Henry VIII's shadowy elder brother, the first husband of Katherine of Aragon. But in his lifetime Arthur counted for much more than that. Groomed for kingship, sent to govern Wales and the Marches, married to secure the Spanish alliance, celebrated in portraits, poems and pageants, Arthur stood at the centre of his father's plans. His death brought a grand funeral and a lasting monument, the chantry chapel covered in Tudor badges that still stands in Worcester Cathedral. These richly illustrated essays, by historians, art historians and archaeologists, investigate Arthur's life and posthumous commemoration from every angle. They set him in the context of the fledgling Tudor regime and of the religion, art and architecture of late medieval death and memory. They close with an exploration of the re-enactment of Arthur's funeral at Worcester in 2002, an event that sought to rescue the prince from the oblivion that has been his lot for five hundred years. CONTRIBUTORS: STEVEN GUNN, IAN ARTHURSON, FREDERICK HEPBURN, JOHN MORGAN-GUY, RALPH HOULBROOKE, MARK DUFFY, CHRIS GUY, JOHN HUNTER, LINDA MONCKTON, PHILLIP LINDLEY, JULIAN LITTEN

Call #: DA330.8.A78 A78 2009

Blood on the banner : the Republican struggle in Clare 1913-1923 / Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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Review

Here is an outstanding story of the War for Independence. --Irish American News

Call #: DA990.C59 O78 2009

Dublin in the medieval world : studies in honour of Howard B. Clarke / John Bradley, Alan J. Fletcher and Anngret Simms, editors. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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Call #: DA995.D75 D814 2009

Petticoat rebellion : the Anna Parnell story / Patricia Groves. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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In the late nineteenth century, a group of respectable ladies operated outside the law to fight for the rights of the landless poor in Ireland. These women were feared by both the British government and Irish Republicans. They were considered too militant, even by the militants, and because they were women, even the law couldn't stop them. They were the Ladies' Land League, founded in January 1881 by Miss Anna Stewart Parnell.

Call #: DA958.P24 G76 2009

The burnings 1920 / Pearse Lawlor. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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This book traces the events in Northern Ireland that led to serious sectarian rioting and the burning of Catholic owned property over a period of three months in 1920. It details, for the first time, the extent of the destruction and loss of life in the towns of Banbridge, Dromore, and Lisburn. The sectarian violence in Belfast during 1920-1922 has been well documented but the scale of the violence in Belfast was such that events which took place in other towns, while mentioned, were never explored in detail. Lawlor highlights the importance of Cork and the killing of Tomas MacCurtain in the tragic events that later came to pass in the north.

Call #: DA962 .L32 2009

The making of British unionism, 1740-1848 : politics, government, and the Anglo-Irish constitutional relationship / Douglas Kanter. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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Call #: DA949 .K36 2009

The path to devolution and change : a political history of Scotland under Margaret Thatcher / David Stewart. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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Review

'As a Scottish historian, with a particular interest in Scotland's twentieth-century history, I strongly welcome this book. It has the virtue of considering crucial, yet underrated issues in Scotland's recent pre-devolution history, such as the impact of deindustrialisation, the trade union legacy, important non-parliamentary political influences, the distinctiveness of local government, the role of the welfare state and the ever-increasing powers of the Scottish Office. Scotland has tended to be a footnote in histories of the Thatcher years. Yet, Stewart shows explicitly how Conservative policies north of the Border were able to rally cross-party opinion, together with a range of Scottish institutions (e.g. the church, trade unions, local government) into countering what was perceived as a divisive Westminster-imposed Unionist agenda.' - Irene Maver, Senior Lecturer and Head of Scottish Area, Department of Scottish History, University of Glasgow; 'David Stewart displays a detailed knowledge of the field of study and in his careful dissection of existing literature on the topic, shows a good critical sense. This study makes an original contribution to knowledge through its examination of the impact of the Thatcher government in Scotland... The policies of the Thatcher government in Scotland are studied in relation to the post-war consensus and their lack of success is understood in relation to the continuing popularity of that consensus in Scotland and the ability of Scottish civil society to organise in defence of it. It has added relevance at the present time, given recent events in Scottish politics and the continuing ascendancy of the SNP. This book will be of interest to all who study British politics and contemporary British history.' - Andrew Gamble, Professor of Politics, University of Cambridge

Call #: DA821 .S74 2009

War, nationalism, and the British sailor, 1750-1850 / Isaac Land. (10/21/2009)

10/21/2009

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Review

“In this engaging cultural history, War, Nationalism, and the British Sailor gives agency and new meaning to the lives of the men and women who sailed (or claimed to have sailed) during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. With adroit argument and elegant prose, Land reinterprets accepted maritime narratives and, as a consequence, forces us to re-consider what was at stake in the larger British context. By charting a course to bring maritime history ashore, Land deftly integrates the maritime into larger national narratives about British identity."--Mary Conley, Associate Professor of History, College of the Holy Cross and Author of From Jack Tar to Union Jack: Naval Manhood in the British Empire, 1870-1918.

“Land’s argument – that ‘Jack Tar’ as a cultural product was born of the nation-building that began at the end of the seventeenth century and then disappeared after the sailing navy had accomplished its task in the early decades of the nineteenth century – is compelling and believable…This is a new argument, and it does a better job of explaining the changing role of the sailor in British national culture as well as the ambivalent feelings of those same sailors towards the nation-building project than any book I have read. Land uses a range of different sources to make his case, and in general displays great creativity in interpreting them…The author writes in a very lively and engaging manner. His use of anecdote, his portrait of the portside world, and his sense of humor and irony all combine to make this an excellent read.”--Daniel Vickers, Professor of History, University of British Columbia

Call #: DA87 .L36 2009

An updating of R.W. Gibson's St. Thomas More : a preliminary bibliography / Constance Smith. (10/14/2009)

10/14/2009

Call #: DA334.M8 S45 1981

Archaeology on the A303 Stonehenge Improvement / by Matt Leivers and Chris Moore with contributions from Michael J. Allen ... [et al.] and illustrations by Rob Goller, S.E. James and Elaine Wakefield. (10/14/2009)

10/14/2009

Call #: DA142 .L45 2008

At the great crossroads : prehistoric, Roman and medieval discoveries on the Isle of Thanet, 1994-95 / by Paul Bennett ... [et al.]. (10/14/2009)

10/14/2009

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The widening of the road between the Monkton and Mount Pleasant roundabouts on the A253 led to the archaeological investigation of a 3km long strip of land between July 1994 and February 1995. Prehistoric discoveries included Neolithic inhumations and pits, well-preserved Beaker graves and ten ring-ditches of late Neolithic and Bronze Age date. An extensive and unusual Roman settlement of the late first to early second century AD was characterised by a large number of sunken-floored buildings. A small rectangular structure on the fringes of the settlement may have been a roadside shrine. A small Anglo-Saxon cemetery was located at the eastern end of the excavated area and at the western end a medieval farmstead with at least five buildings was investigated. The information is presented in four parts covering the main periods of occupation of the site and each chapter includes specialist reports on pottery, small finds, human and animal bones and the plant and insect remains.

Call #: DA670.T3 A8 2008

Archaeological excavations on the route of the A27 Westhampnett Bypass, West Sussex, 1992. (10/7/2009)

10/7/2009

Call #: DA670.S98 A668 1997

Britain, Turkey and the Soviet Union, 1940-45 : strategy, diplomacy and intelligence in the Eastern Mediterranean / by Nicholas Tamkin. (10/7/2009)

10/7/2009

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Call #: DA45 .T28 2009

Ireland and Spain in the reign of Philip II / Enrique García Hernán translated by Liam Liddy and revised by the author. (10/7/2009)

10/7/2009

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Call #: DA935 .G3713 2009

Prinny and his pals : George IV and his remarkable gift of friendship / Tom Ambrose. (10/7/2009)

10/7/2009

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Product Description
From the first biography of George IV in 1831 to the last in 2001, Mad King George's son has commonly been ridiculed as a weak, selfish, and incompetent spendthrift, barely tolerated by his ministers, loathed by most of his family, and dependent on the emotional support of grasping mistresses. However, acclaimed historian Tom Ambrose has uncovered new details on `Prinny' that suggest that, for all his faults, George IV just may have been the most humane and amusing of all British monarchs, notwithstanding his love of the high life. Central to the story is the vast array of friends that populate a remarkable reign as Prince Regent and King. This warm, funny and affectionate portrait displays George at his very best: delighting some of the finest minds of his generation and easily winning over his subjects and his family.

Call #: DA538.A1 A43 2009

The Iveragh Peninsula : a cultural atlas of the Ring of Kerry / editors, John Crowley and John Sheehan cartographic editor, Michael Murphy photographic consultant, Nick Hogan GIS consultant, Helen Bradley. (10/7/2009)

10/7/2009

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Review
This magnificent book is a detailed compendium of the most important cultural aspects of one of Ireland's most stunning landscapes, Kerry's Iveragh peninsula. The variety and depth of the heritage of this distinctive region is impressive in both Irish and European contexts, particularly in terms of landscape, archaeology and folklore as well as for the pivotal role it played in early global telecommunications. This volume is an inspiring example of interdisciplinary scholarship in which the work of academics and local historians is successfully combined with that of poets and artists. The result is an accessible, highly readable and beautifully illustrated volume that succeeds in conveying a true sense of the multifaceted spirit and duchas of the peninsula that is Iveragh. Dr. Patrick F. Wallace, Director National Museum of Ireland This is one of the most beautiful books I've been privileged to experience. I say 'experience' because it turns history, geography and mythology into a stunningly arresting gallery through which I can move in a state of fascinated admiration and delight. Sometimes, moving through that unique gallery, I simply close my eyes and enjoy the beauty of the world created and explored in Kerry by all the gifted people who produced this book. Cork University Press, Editors John Crowley and John Sheehan, Cartographic Editor Mike Murphy, and Consultants Nick Hogan and Helen Bradley can be proud of this massive work of art which will charm, delight and educate generations to come. Brendan Kennelly He was Professor of Modern Literature at Trinity College, Dublin for over 30 years, and retired from that post in 2005. He now teaches part-time in the US and lives in Dublin

Product Description
* The Ring of Kerry is one of Ireland’s most beloved of landscapes
* This multidisciplinary exploration will make anyone’s visit to the Ring even more magical

The Iveragh Peninsula, often referred to as the “Ring of Kerry”, is one of Ireland’s most dramatic and beautiful landscapes. This cultural atlas, comprising over fifty individual chapters and case studies, provides the reader with a broad range of perspectives on the peninsula and the human interactions with it since prehistoric times to the present day.

Although not a conventional atlas, it contains many historic and newly commissioned maps. The opening chapters explore the physical and environmental setting of the peninsula. Subsequent chapters deal with is development over the millennia and the influences that have shaped it. All aspects of Iveragh’s past and present are considered, using the evidence of disciplines such as archaeology, art history, cartography, folklore, geography, geology, history, mythology and zoology.

Given its status as a peninsula projecting into the Atlantic, the history and culture of the Iveragh Peninsula have been molded by external influences as well as by regional and national ones. Its story is multi-layered, involving the imprint of mythological as well as historic settlers and invaders. The peninsula has witnessed significant periods of transition, perhaps none more so than in the present era. This book seeks to deepen and illuminate our understanding of its landscape, history and heritage.

About the Author
John Sheehan is an experienced archaeologist and lecturer in the Department of Archaeology, University College, Cork.

John Crowley is Lecturer in the Department of Geography, University College, Cork.

Call #: DA990.K4 I94 2009

The Roman roadside settlement at Westhawk Farm, Ashford, Kent : excavations 1998-9 / by Paul Booth, Anne-Marie Bingham and Steve Lawrence with contributions by Lindsay Allason-Jones ... [et al.] illustrations by Luke Adams ... [et al.] edited by Edw (10/7/2009)

10/7/2009

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Product Description
Westhawk Farm is the site of a large Roman settlement established at an important road junction shortly after the Roman conquest, discovered and partly excavated in advance of housing development. The settlement contained contrasting groups of carefully laid out plots and unplanned areas. Excavated timber buildings included circular and rectilinear structures and a polygonal shrine. The main concerns of the inhabitants were apparently agriculture and market services. Iron production was important, but probably only of local significance, although the settlement may have had a role in the administration the iron industry. Activity at the site had declined greatly by the mid 3rd century; a striking pattern reflected elsewhere in the region but still of uncertain significance.

About the Author
by Paul Booth, Anne-Marie Bingham and Steve Lawrence

Call #: DA690.A8027 B66 2008

Archaeological excavations on the route of the A27 Westhampnett Bypass, West Sussex, 1992. (9/30/2009)

9/30/2009

Call #: DA670.S98 A668 1997

The Routledge companion to Britain in the twentieth century / Mark Clapson. (9/30/2009)

9/30/2009

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Product Description
The first of its kind in this series, The Routledge Companion to 20th Century Britain is an introductory reference resource ideal for the student starting out in their studies.
The authors cover political, social, economic and cultural history in three parts:
* Part 1 - consists of resources that guide the reader into the subject
* Part 2 - is made up of combined data and text chapters on the major themes of twentieth century British history
* Part 3 - leads the student out of the book with further reading, and a reference guide to sources, key terms and figures in twentieth century Britain.
All of which adds up to a helpful and usable resource in the pursuit of knowledge in twentieth century British history.

About the Author
Harriet Jones was Director of Institute of Contemporary British History at the Institute of Historical Research.
Mark Clapson is Visiting Research Fellow in History at the University of Westminster.

Call #: DA566 .C53 2009

Attlee's great contemporaries : the politics of character / [edited by Frank Field]. (9/23/2009)

9/23/2009

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Call #: DA566.7 .A88 2009

Bulmer Hobson and the nationalist movement in twentieth-century Ireland / Marnie Hay. (9/23/2009)

9/23/2009

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Product Description

Bulmer Hobson (1883-1969) abandoned the pacifism of his Ulster Quaker roots to become a key leader in the Irish nationalist movement in the period leading up to the 1916 Easter Rising. Sidelined at a critical time and maligned by some republican colleagues, Hobson has not been the subject of a published study until now. This book outlines and assesses Hobson’s nationalist career in the period 1900-16, exploring his contributions to the Gaelic League, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Sinn Féin movement, Na Fianna Éireann and the Irish Volunteers. It also examines his lesser-known activities as a publisher, civil servant and economic propagandist in the years after the Rising.

As the only study on Bulmer Hobson this book will be of interest to historians and political scientists specializing in twentieth-century Ireland and the Irish revolution, Irish Studies scholars, and students of these disciplines. It will also appeal to the general reader with an interest in the history of the Irish revolution.

From the Back Cover
This book is the only study in full of Bulmer Hobson (1883-1969) examining his nationalist career in the period 1900-16, as well as his lesser-known activities in the years after the rebellion. Bulmer Hobson (1883-1969) abandoned the pacifism of his Ulster Quaker roots to become a key leader in the Irish nationalist movement in the period leading up to the 1916 Easter Rising. However, his disapproval of what he considered an untimely rebellion and his evasion of arrest in its aftermath helped to scuttle a promising political career in an independent Ireland. Sidelined at a critical time and maligned by some republican colleagues, Hobson has not been the subject of a published study until now, despite the leading roles that he played in the advanced nationalist movement. This book outlines and assesses Hobson_s nationalist career in the period 1900-16, exploring his contributions to the Gaelic League, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Sinn Fin movement, Na Fianna eireann and the Irish Volunteers. It also examines his lesser-known activities as a publisher, civil servant and economic propagandist in the years after the Rising. As such, it fills a significant gap in the historiography of Irish nationalism in the twentieth century. This book will be of interest to historians and political scientists specializing in twentieth-century Ireland and the Irish revolution, Irish Studies scholars, and students of these disciplines. It will also appeal to the general reader with an interest in the history of the Irish revolution.

About the Author

Marnie Hay is an IRCHSS Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow in History at Trinity College Dublin.

Call #: DA965.H6 H39 2009

Dublin 1916 : the siege of the GPO / Clair Wills. (9/23/2009)

9/23/2009

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Review
Just as Fort McHenry and the Alamo are iconic in American history, Dublin's General Post Office is important in modern Irish history. Historian Wills explores how it acquired its symbolism, starting from the events of the 1916 Easter Rising that occurred there, to how they were remembered in popular memory, in literature and film, and in politics...History readers will be drawn to Wills' incisive study.
--Gilbert Taylor (Booklist )

Product Description

On Easter Monday 1916, while much of Dublin holidayed at the seaside and placed bets at the horse races, a disciplined group of Irish Volunteers seized the city’s General Post Office in what would become the defining act of rebellion against British rule—and the most significant single event in modern Irish history. By week’s end, the rebels had surrendered, and the siege had left the once magnificent GPO an empty shell—and turned it into the most famous and deeply symbolic building in all of Ireland.

This book unravels the events in and around the GPO during the Easter Rising of 1916. Drawing on participant and eyewitness accounts, diaries, and newspaper reports, Clair Wills recreates the harrowing moments that transformed the GPO from an emblem of nineteenth-century British power and civil government, to an embattled barricade, and finally to a national symbol. What was it like to be trapped in the building? To watch, and listen to, the destruction of the city? Was the act meant as a bloody sacrifice or a military coup d’état? Exploring these questions as they were experienced and understood then and later, her book reveals the twists and turns that the myth of the GPO has undergone in the last century, as it has stood for sacrifice and treachery, national unity and divisive violence, the future and the past.

(20090901)

About the Author
Clair Wills is Professor of Irish Literature at Queen Mary, University of London. Her previous books include a study of Paul Muldoon.

Call #: DA962 .W64 2009

Juke box Britain : Americanisation and youth culture, 1945-60 / Adrian Horn. (9/23/2009)

9/23/2009

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Review
Richard Hoggart believed that the juke box was a harbinger of all the worst features of American mass culture. Using a range of primary and secondary sources, from the trade press of the music industry to memoirs and interviews, and drawing on an established sociological and historical literature on postwar youth cultures, Adrian Horn has produced an innovative and scholarly work. He charts the cultural impact of juke boxes in Britain in meticulous detail, and sheds much needed light also on the cultural worlds of 'the juke box boys' and youth cafes of postwar Britain.' David Fowler, University of Cambridge

Product Description

British teenagers witnessed immense cultural change in the period following the second world war. There were less than 100 juke boxes in Britain in 1945 and over 15,000 by 1958. Over the same period there was a similar unprecedented expansion of casual youth venues in the form of cafés, snack, milk and coffee bars where young people could hear the sounds of hot American jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.

It has been a common assumption among academics and cultural historians alike that British youth between 1945 and 1960 underwent a period of massive "Americanisation." Juke Box Britain contests this view maintaining that American popular-cultural influences were not examples of cultural domination but simply influences that combined with existing styles to create distinctly British style fusions.

Juke Box Britain is suitable for students of cultural, social and design histories as well as cultural studies and provides fascinating reading for youth culture and juke box enthusiasts.

From the Back Cover
There were less than 100 juke boxes in Britain in 1945 and over 15,000 by 1958. Over the same period there was a similar unprecedented expansion of casual youth venues in the form of cafs, snack, milk and coffee bars where young people could hear the sounds of hot American jazz and rock _n_ roll. And if this wasn_t enough, teenagers were earning more in real terms than ever before and spending it on commodities _of no lasting value_ like make-up, clothes, records and juke box music. British teenagers following World War II witnessed immense cultural change. These new forms of youth culture were seen as American, gaudy, a waste of money, un-British and socially retrogressive by culturally entrenched _Establishment_ bodies like the BBC, police, magistrates and school authorities. The generational frictions were stretched further by the Teddy Boy subculture which led to a moral panic and general social indignation. It has been a common assumption among academics and cultural historians alike that British youth between 1945 and 1960 underwent a period of massive _Americanisation_. Juke Box Britain contests this view maintaining that American popular-cultural influences were not examples of cultural domination but simply influences that combined with existing styles to create distinctly British style fusions that may now be viewed as quaint and of the period. Juke Box Britain is suitable for students of cultural, social and design histories as well as cultural studies and provides fascinating reading for youth culture and juke box enthusiasts.

About the Author

Adrian Horn is an Honorary Research Associate at the Department of History at Lancaster University, and an Associate Lecturer in Social Sciences with the Open University.

Call #: DA589.4 .H67 2009

Roman Southwark, settlement and economy : excavations in Southwark, 1973-91 / Carrie Cowan ... [et al.]. (9/23/2009)

9/23/2009

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Product Description
This report presents an overview of Roman urban development in London south of the Thames. The establishment of the Roman bridge and the first approach roads and landing places, made Southwark an ideal location for the development of facilities for the trans-shipment of goods between land and river. The wide range of data from 41 previously unpublished north Southwark sites provides the means for 'mapping' Roman activity in Southwark: the nature of the early settlement, changing patterns of land use and broader processes of social and economic change. Early land reclamation preceded the establishment of a thriving trade centre involved in the redistribution or marketing of locally processed and imported goods, with evidence of a concentration of buildings burnt in Boudican fire of AD 61 along the main road to the bridgehead. Increased land reclamation and construction of more masonry buildings in the 2nd century AD indicate further growth. By the 3rd century large stone buildings at ten of the sites reported suggest an administrative area housing official residences. After the mid 4th century the settlement contracted to the area immediately around the bridgehead with a cemetery on previously occupied land to the south.

About the Author
by Carrie Cowan, Fiona Seeley, Angela Wardle, Andrew Westman and Lucy Wheeler

Call #: DA685.S7 R66 2009

The life of Mary Queen of Scots : an accidental tragedy / Roderick Graham. (9/23/2009)

9/23/2009

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From Publishers Weekly
French-raised Mary Stuart's life began with tragedy and ended with tragedy for both the monarch and Scotland. Mary Queen of Scots has not always been shown in a positive light, but Graham's pro-Elizabeth bias appears in his showcasing of the instincts of wily, intellectual Queen Elizabeth against naïve, spoiled Mary. Raised in a gilded cage in France to be an ornamental object at court, she ignored governing and deadly court politics as long as she could, and she routinely irritated her English counterpart, Elizabeth. Unsuccessful as ruler in a fragile Scotland, the queen grew even unhappier as the wife of John Darnley, a syphilitic narcissist. All in all, Graham, producer of BBC-TV's Elizabeth, narrates Mary's short life as a hellish fairy tale for naughty children, ending with the queen's grisly death. This dense biography in strongest in carefully detailing the Western European political atmosphere of Mary's youth and nimbly describes the Scottish nobles' machinations to improve their lot before forcing her to abdicate. 16 pages of illus. (July 22)
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Product Description
Mary, Queen of Scots lived during one of the most fascinating periods in history. Graham’s epic work paints a unique picture of this controversial woman, showing her to be neither a Catholic martyr nor murdering adulteress but a passive young woman caught up in the ruthless sea of sixteenth-century politics who lacked the shrewdness and empowerment of her contemporaries—Catherine de Medici, Diane de Poitiers and Elizabeth Tudor. Instead, she relied on her beauty and charm and allowed herself to be a victim of circumstance. When she did finally attempt to control her future, she set in motion the events that would lead her to the executioner’s block.

About the Author
Roderick Graham was educated at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and Edinburgh University. He has worked in radio and television as a writer, director, and producer. He produced the award winning BBC program Elizabeth R with Glenda Jackson. He is the author of John Knox: Democrat and The Great Infidel: A Life of David Hume.

Call #: DA787.A1 G82 2009

Credit and village society in fourteenth-century England / by Chris Briggs. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

Call #: DA176 .B75 2009

England and the 1641 Irish Rebellion / Joseph Cope. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

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The 1641 Irish Rebellion has long been recognized as a key event in the mid-17th century collapse of the Stuart monarchy. By 1641, many in England had grown restive under the weight of intertwined religious, political and economic crises. To these audiences, the Irish rising seemed a realization of England's worst fears: a war of religious extermination supported by European papists, whose ambitions extended across the Irish Sea. England and the 1641 Irish Rebellion explores the consequences of this emergency by focusing on survivors of the rising in local, national and regional contexts. In Ireland, the experiences of survivors reflected the complexities of life in multiethnic and religiously-diverse communities. In England, by contrast, pamphleteers, ministers, and members of parliament simplified the issues, presenting the survivors as victims of an international Catholic conspiracy and asserting English subjects' obligations to their countrymen and coreligionists. These obligations led to the creation of relief projects for despoiled Protestant settlers, but quickly expanded into sweeping calls for action against recusants and suspected popish agents in England. England and the 1641 Irish Rebellion contends that the mobilization of this local activism played an integral role in politicizing the English people and escalating the political crisis of the 1640s.

Call #: DA943 .C67 2009

'I didn't want to float, I wanted to belong to something' : refugee organizations in Britain 1933-1945 / edited by Anthonly Grenville and Andrea Reiter. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

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This volume fills an important gap in research on the refugees from Nazism who settled in Britain, by giving a full and wide-ranging account of the organizations that they established. The contributions cover these organizations chronologically, from those that did not outlast the war to those still active today, and in terms of their function, as cultural or religious institutions, as historical resources for the study of Nazism and the refugees, or as all-purpose representative refugee associations. Any scholar or student working in this field needs to have an understanding of the organizations that were and are so characteristic of the refugee community.

Call #: DA125.G4 I24 2008

Lived in London : blue plaques and the stories behind them / edited by Emily Cole with a foreword by Stephen Fry. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

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Described by Disraeli as “a roost for every bird,” London has been home to figures as varied as Winston Churchill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jimi Hendrix. Since 1866 the city has commemorated the link between notable figures and the buildings in which they lived and work through a series of blue plaques. Lived in London provides an introduction to the many people and buildings honored through this program that connects people and place, drawing out the human element of the historic environment and helping to save a number of London’s buildings from demolition.

About the Author

Emily Cole is Senior Investigator at English Heritage and Head of the Blue Plaques Division

Call #: DA689.H5 C65 2009

Prevalence and patterns of disease in early medieval populations : a comparison of skeletal samples of the 5th-8th centuries A.D. from Britain and southwestern Germany / Tina Jakob. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

Call #: DA90 .J35 2009

Scottish kingship, 1306-1542 : essays in honour of Norman Macdougall / edited by Michael Brown and Roland Tanner. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

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Written by leading historians, the essays in this unique volume focus on individual reigns of Medieval Scottish kings and explore particular themes within this context. Kingship during the 14th and 15th centuries is chiefly discussed, illuminating the surge of power that monarchs experienced during that time as well as the challenges that they faced concerning questions of authority and legitimacy. By synthesizing research from the last quarter century and giving fresh insights into the particulars of the late medieval realm, this record also pays tribute to historian Norman MacDougall. Detailed and dynamic, this overview of Scottish sovereignty is sure to enthrall.

About the Author

Michael Brown is the author of The Black Douglases, James I, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament: Politics and the Three Estates, 1424–1488, and Wars of Scotland. Roland Tanner is the editor of the Records of the Parliaments of Scotland, 1235–1707 and the coeditor of The History of the Scottish Parliament, Volume 1: Parliaments and Politics in Scotland, 1235–1560. He is a partner at Tanner Ritchie Publishing, a publisher of digital historical resources.

Call #: DA758.2 .S268 2008

Somerset House : the palace of England's Queens 1551-1692 / by Simon Thurley with contributions by Patricia Croot and Claire Gapper edited by Ann Sanders and Roger Cline. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

Call #: DA687.S7 T58 2009

Sussex clergy inventories, 1600-1750 / edited by Annabelle Hughes. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

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Call #: DA670.S97 S97 91

The Glorious Revolution : 1688, Britain's fight for liberty / Edward Vallance. (9/16/2009)

9/16/2009

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From Publishers Weekly
England's Glorious Revolution—when the ruling, quasi-Catholic Stuart dynasty was usurped by the robustly Protestant William of Orange—has traditionally been regarded as the most boring revolution ever. It was quick, it was bloodless, it was polite—all very English, in other words. As Vallance's epigraphs show, commentators as diverse as Karl Marx and Margaret Thatcher agreed that William's ascent to the throne led to Britain's rise as a commercial, democratic, religiously tolerant world power. Vallance, a professor of early modern history at the University of Liverpool, aims to upset this comfortable consensus and to inject some vividness, action and even gore into the story. He succeeds nicely and his account serves as an admirable introduction to this confusing era. Writing with brio, Vallance possesses a sound grasp of narrative pacing and clarifies the often incomprehensible (at least to modern readers) political, religious and constitutional issues of the time. Paradoxically, Vallance is weakest on the personal character and motivations of the deposed king James II, who remains something of a cipher. Though Vallance wrote originally for a British audience, American readers will be startled to discover how greatly their founders relied on the principles of the Glorious Revolution a century later. 8 pages of color illus. (Apr. 16)
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Review
'An account that is balanced without being anodyne, wide-ranging without being superficial, assured without being complacent . . . An up-to-date and well informed narrative' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'Gripping . . . [Vallance] writes with considerable narrative flair . . . a tremendously exciting introduction to the period' TELEGRAPH 'Lucid and perceptive' Blair Worden, LITERARY REVIEW 'Vivid pen portraits of contemporary characters . . . a colourful, lively account' HERALD 'Well researched and immensely readable. His judicious use of details makes history come alive' DAILY EXPRESS 'A swashbuckling re-examination of a forgotten moment in British history by a richly talented young historian' TELEGRAPH --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

In this new, highly readable history of the Glorious Revolution of 1688-when James II was supplanted on the English throne by William, Prince of Orange, and his English wife Mary-Edward Vallance challenges the view that it was a bloodless coup in the name of progress, arguing instead that the revolution was a brutal Protestant struggle to obtain power. Meticulously researched and told with verve and color, this will remain the definitive narrative of the Glorious Revolution for years to come.

About the Author
Edward Vallance received his Ph.D. at Balliol College, Oxford. He is now a lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Liverpool.

Call #: DA452 .V25 2008

The environment and aggregate-related archaeology / A.G. Brown. (9/9/2009)

9/9/2009

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This volume provides a synthetic review of the background and archaeology that has emerged through archaeological interventions associated with the quarrying of sand, gravel, and rock for aggregates. This book covers all periods from the Lower Palaeolithic to Medieval, and is organized on a regional basis. The review, which also contains as yet unpublished data, shows how the variety and preservation of archaeology can greatly expand our understanding of the relationships of humans to their changing environments.

About the Author
by Tony Brown

Call #: DA90 .B76 2009