Writing local history


Book Description

This fascinating book looks at how local history developed from the antiquarian county studies of the sixteenth century through the growth of 'professional' history in the nineteenth century, to the recent past. Concentrating on the past sixty years, it looks at the opening of archive offices, the invigorating influence of family history, the impact of adult education and other forms of lifelong learning. The author considers the debates generated by academics, including the divergence of views over local and regional issues, and the importance of standards set by the Victoria County History (VCH). Also discussed is the fragmentation of the subject. The antiquarian tradition included various subject areas that are now separate disciplines, among them industrial archaeology, name studies, family, landscape and urban history. This is an authoritative account of how local history has come to be one of the most popular and productive intellectual pastimes in our modern society. Written by a practitioner who has spent more than twenty years teaching local history to undergraduates and M.A. students, as well as lecturing to local history societies, John Beckett is currently Director of the VCH. A remarkable book that will be of great interest to students and scholars of local history as well as amateur and professional genealogists.




Teach Yourself Palaeography


Book Description

This is the very first 'teach yourself' book on palaeography, covering all the skills that the genealogist needs to read any document that might be found at any date in English archives. Using a series of graded exercises in transcription, Teach Yourself Palaeography works backwards in time in easy stages from the modern handwriting of the nineteenth century to the court hands of the medieval period, focusing on records that are of particular interest to family and local historians. The book provides a unique, self-contained reference guide to palaeography, and to all the different letter forms, symbols and abbreviations that have ever been used in English records.




Sources for English Local History


Book Description




Teach Yourself with Open Learning


Book Description

This practical guide offers advice on what learners should expect from an open learning course. The author suggests ways in which readers can choose the best programme to suit their needs, get maximum support from tutors, develop skills and get the best possible examination results.




Write Your Life Story and Get it Published: Teach Yourself


Book Description

If you have ever wanted to write down your life story but never found the time or the confidence, this book is for you. It will help you to find a style that suits you, collect and structure all the information you need, plan your story and discover your voice. In reading this book you will learn how to gather anecdotes and other infromation from your different sources, plan and structure your work and, ultimately, how and where to publish, guided by a highly experienced and prize-winning winning author. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of writing your life story. FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.




Thrifty Living: Teach Yourself


Book Description

* Your ultimate guide to a cheaper, happier life, saving money everywhere from credit card bills to transport costs * Goes back to basics, with lots of advice on cleaning your home the old-fashioned way, growing your own vegetables and similar * A light-hearted approach that conceals plenty of practical tips and straightforward advice * You can either work through the book, or dip in and out at leisure Thrifty Living is a comprehensive but flexible guide to how to cut the costs of everyday living, how to save money, and even how to make a few extra pounds. It will allow you to make as many or as few changes as you want to cut back on spending, whether you just want to save a little money or whether you are on an impossibly tight budget. The structure and style of the book is equally flexible, allowing you to either work through step-by-step or to dip in and out of relevant sections when necessary. It covers all areas of spending, from banks and bills to shopping, and offers extra help for non-financial economies, including recycling, cooking and cleaning on a budget. With advice on cutting travel costs, and plenty of tips for cheap days out and sustainable, low-cost things to do, this is the ultimate guide to living a cheap but fulfilling life. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of thrifty living. FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.




Local History


Book Description




Self-Taught


Book Description

In this previously untold story of African American self-education, Heather Andrea Williams moves across time to examine African Americans' relationship to literacy during slavery, during the Civil War, and in the first decades of freedom. Self-Taught traces the historical antecedents to freedpeople's intense desire to become literate and demonstrates how the visions of enslaved African Americans emerged into plans and action once slavery ended. Enslaved people, Williams contends, placed great value in the practical power of literacy, whether it was to enable them to read the Bible for themselves or to keep informed of the abolition movement and later the progress of the Civil War. Some slaves devised creative and subversive means to acquire literacy, and when slavery ended, they became the first teachers of other freedpeople. Soon overwhelmed by the demands for education, they called on northern missionaries to come to their aid. Williams argues that by teaching, building schools, supporting teachers, resisting violence, and claiming education as a civil right, African Americans transformed the face of education in the South to the great benefit of both black and white southerners.