English Local History - An Introduction

This is a book for anyone wanting to explore local history in England. It summarises, in an accessible and authoritative way, current knowledge and approaches, bringing together and illustrating the key sources and evidence, the skills and tools, the contexts and interpretations for successive periods. Case studies show these ingredients in use, combined to create histories of people and place over time. A standard text since its first edition in 1992, this new edition features extensive fresh material, updated to reflect additional availability of evidence, changing interpretations, new tools and skills (not least the use of IT), and developments in the time periods and topics tackled by local historians. The interdisciplinary character of twenty-first-century local, family and community history is a prominent feature. Complemented by 163 illustrations, this book offers an unrivalled introduction to understanding and researching local history. KATE TILLER is Reader Emerita in English Local History at Oxford University, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Historical Society and a founding fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. Over a career of 40 years, based at Oxford's Department for Continuing Education, she developed and implemented courses in local history from community evening classes to new master's and doctoral programmes. In 2019, she was appointed OBE for services to local history.