Histories of Everyday Life: The Making of Popular Social History in Britain, 1918-1979

The history of everyday life emerged in mid-twentieth-century Britain as a new breed of social history, popularized through educational settings and media, but declined in the 1970s due to bottom-up social change.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 22 July 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Histories of Everyday Life delves into the examination of the creation and consumption of popular social history in mid-twentieth-century Britain. It explores the emergence of a distinct genre of social history, known as the history of everyday life, driven by non-academic historians, predominantly women, following the First World War. This pedagogical construct was designed to meet the educational requirements of the newly emerged mass democracy that emerged after 1918. It gained widespread popularity among the general public through various means, including books, classroom instruction, museum exhibits, and BBC radio broadcasts. By tracing the development and dissemination of this genre between the 1920s and the 1960s, the book makes a compelling argument that the history of everyday life experienced a decline in the 1970s, not due to the invention of an alternative new social history by academics, but rather as a result of bottom-up social changes that rendered this form of popular social history untenable in the evolving context of mass education.

Through its analysis, Histories of Everyday Life ultimately aims to demonstrate the profound impact of mass education on popular culture in Britain after 1918. It argues that we should view the twentieth century as Britain's educational century, highlighting the ways in which education shaped the social, cultural, and political landscape of the nation. This book offers valuable insights into the ways in which historical narratives can be used to understand the complex interplay between education, society, and popular culture, and its significance in shaping the course of history.

Weight: 578g
Dimension: 161 x 242 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198868330