History@Portsmouth

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New Publications

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“Literature acknowledges no boundaries”: Book reading and social class in Britain, c.1930-c.1945

An article on book reading and social class by Dr Robert James, senior lecturer in history at Portsmouth, has recently been published in the Journal of Social History. See below for the abstract, and if you want to read the article, click here. Abstract Sitting down to read a work of fiction was a well-established leisure activity within British society by the early-twentieth century but one that was mainly enjoyed by the country’s more leisured classes. After the First World War, however, changes to the publishing industry’s working practices, coupled with the growth of the “open access” system in public libraries in the 1920s and the spread of twopenny libraries […]

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Sir Hudibras

Laughter as a political weapon after the English Civil Wars.

Dr Fiona McCall is a lecturer in early modern history at Portsmouth, teaching units on the British Civil Wars, and Crime, Sin and Punishment in early modern Britain, amongst others. Her current research project investigates religion in the English parish during the period of Godly rule of the 1640s and 1650s. What do you do if you are utterly defeated in a Civil War, and governed by a religious zealouts who have executed your ruler and are determined to stamp out most of the religious practises you hold dear? Fighting back has proved no use. You can retreat from public life and count what money the sequestrators have left you.  […]

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Historicising the Women’s Liberation Movement – Sue Bruley & Laurel Forster

Dr Sue Bruley, reader in history at Portsmouth, has published a special collection of essays on the Women’s Liberation Movement of the late-twentieth century in the journal Women’s History Review. The collection, co-edited with Dr Laurel Forster, charts the impact of the WLM and evaluates the experiences of the women who participated in this important social movement. Link: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09612025.2015.1132872?af=R&journalCode=rwhr20

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Visions of Empire: Patriotism, popular culture and the city, 1870-1939 by Brad Beaven

Dr Brad Beaven is professor in social and cultural history at Portsmouth and leads the Port Towns and Urban cultures research project. His book, Visions of Empire: Patriotism, popular culture and the city, 1870-1939, is out now in paperback with Manchester University Press. The book offers a fascinating insight into the ways in which ideas of Empire impacted on the lives of the British population in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.’ Link: http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526106698/

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From the Fight for Britain to the Fight for Bread: Portsmouth and the Impact of the First World War, 1914-1925 – James Daley/Dan Kneller

Former University of Portsmouth history students, James Daly and Dan Kneller, have published a Portsmouth Paper that examines the impact of the First World War on the naval city of Portsmouth. ‘From the Fight for Britain to the Fight for Bread: Portsmouth and the Impact of the First World War, 1914-1925’ draws on a wealth of local sources to reveal how Portsmouth’s residents were affected by the conflict, both while it took place and in the years that followed .’ Link: https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/ext/news/library-launches-paper-on-the-impact-of-wwi-on-portsmouth.aspx

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