Publisher's Synopsis
English local history has been practised since the Middle Ages, but it is only over the course of the last century that it has attained professional status and recognition as a fundamental component of historical studies. - - The Changing Face of English Local History is unique in its exploration of the rich historiography of the subject. R.C. Richardson has selected essays by leading scholars in the field which explore how English local history has been defined, approached and practised at different stages of its development from the sixteenth century to the present day. Essays on individual historians - Camden, Thoroton, Hasted and Milner - stand side by side with others documenting general trends. The editor's concluding essay offers comparisons and contrasts between the concept and practice of local history in England with developments in the USA. - - In its self conscious and revealing reflections on the successive stages of local history's own past as a subject, this collection enables local historians today to understand why their field has come to be what it is, and the directions that it is likely to take in the future. -
