From the book: The aim of this second, fully revised, updated, re-written, 1998 edition of Riden's lively and well informed volume is to provide a simple introduction to the study of local history in England and Wales, provide a grounding in what local history is about and how it is studied.
It is intended mainly for two types of reader. The first are part-time amateur enthusiasts with no previous experience of historical research who are keen to discover something of the past around them. The second are students in institutions such as schools, colleges and universities, especially those assessed by dissertation.
Riden's book has been written against a background of his own interest in local history - largely untutored - since his early teens; twenty years' experience of teaching adults classes as a full-time tutor in a university extramural department as well as teaching undergraduates while working as a county editor for the Victoria County History. Essentially, this book is based on practical first-hand experience.
In this book, the reader will also find a clear, up-to-date guide to basic sources for local history, plus hints as to where to find out more. Each chapter has a list of further reading although it does not aim to to list every possible source for a particular topic, nor does it describe everything to be found in a county record office. It, nevertheless, concentrates on subjects which amateurs tend to be interested in, and material available in local libraries and record offices which they can use without encountering great technical problems.
Local History: A Handbook for Beginners (first published in 1983) is also ideal manual for teachers and part-time extramural students.
As in all books of this kind, Scotland is omitted, since its administrative and judicial history have created a separate system of records which cannot easily be dealt with alongside sources for England and Wales.
About the author: Philip Riden is a Senior Research Fellow at Nene University College, Northampton, and County Editor of the Northamptonshire Victoria County History. Mr Riden's own research interests lie in the field of British economic history between 1660 and 1914, and the history of Derbyshire. He has published a number of books and articles on the history of the British iron industry in this period, while in Derbyshire his work has been focused mainly on the Derbyshire Record Society, of which he has been general editor since the society was established in 1977 and for which he had edited and co-edited about a dozen of its 33 hardback volumes. He is also the author of two general textbooks on the study of local history.
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