The British and Irish Studies Intelligencer

The following reviews of possible interest to followers of the Intelligencer were published in October in the Institute of Historical Research’s e-journal Reviews in History.

Our 800th review was a double-header, with Robert Poole tackling two histories of popular protest, Katrina Navickas’s Loyalism and Radicalism in Lancashire 1798-1815 and Adrian Randall’s Riotous Assemblies: Popular Protest in Hanoverian England.

Then Rhonda Semple (no. 801) reviews Alison Twells’ The Civilising Mission and the English Middle Class, 1792-1850: The ‘Heathen’ at Home and Overseas, a study of missionary philanthropy both abroad and back in England. Alison’s response can also be found here.

Glenn Richardson’s edited collection ‘The Contending Kingdoms’: England and France 1420-1700 spans three centuries of contact between the two nations, and is reviewed (no. 802) by Simon Lambe.

There is also an account by Paul Flewers of British attitudes to the Soviet Union under Stalin, critiqued (no. 803) by Geoffrey Foote with a response by the author.

On a different note, Peter Webster reviews (no. 804) two volumes on early modern church music, Beth Quitslund’s The Reformation in Rhyme. Sternhold, Hopkins and the English Metrical Psalter, 1547-1603, and Humanism and the Reform of Sacred Music in Early Modern England. John Merbecke the Orator and The Booke of Common Praier Noted (1550) by Hyun-Ah Kim.

Next the medieval prison is the focus of a short and ambitious work by G. Geltner, The Medieval Prison: A Social History, which has been reviewed for us (no. 805) by Jonathan Rose.

The first full-length work on the history of adoption in England (A Child for Keeps: the History of Adoption in England, 1918-45 by Jenny Keating) is the subject of a piece (no. 806) by Daniel Grey, for which there is also a response by the author.

The next book under review examines the contradictory relationship between Americans and the British royal family, as Adam Smith (no. 808) tackles Frank Prochaska’s The Eagle and the Crown: Americans and the British Monarchy.

In addition Carolyn Kitching discusses (no. 810) a new book analysing the relation between British foreign policy and the formation of the League of Nations – Peter Yearwood’s Guarantee of Peace: The League of Nations in British Policy 1914-1925.

Lastly there feature two very different books on British history. To mark the 25th anniversary publication of a new edition Vernon Bogdanor reviews (no. 813) a key work of modern constitutional history, John F. Naylor’s A Man and an Institution: Sir Maurice Hankey, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Custody of Cabinet Secrecy, while elsewhere Kristina Straub’s Domestic Affairs: Intimacy, Eroticism, and Violence Between Servants and Masters in Eighteenth-Century Britain is discussed by Sarah Lloyd (no. 814), for which there is a response by the author.

As always, all comments or suggestions should be sent to danny.millum@sas.ac.uk.

Next July, the annual conference of the Institute of Historical Research is taking as its theme environmental history. Over two days we shall feature a series of lectures, panels, policy forums, exhibitions and book launches devoted to this exciting field. We have lined up some of the world’s top experts as keynote speakers: William Beinart, Alfred Crosby, Harriet Ritvo and Donald Worster, and shall be ensuring that there is full press coverage. We anticipate over 300 registrations.

I am writing now to give you advance warning of the event, at which I hope very much you will wish to join us in some shape of form. We will be back in the South Block of Senate House, ie: using the Beveridge Hall and the surrounding reception area and galleries for the main events. Do let us know as soon as possible if you would like to be involved, and please pass on news of the conference to your colleagues and graduate students. Details of the cfp are below.

As always, we are grateful for your support, and may I thank those NABCS colleagues particularly for helping to make Cities in 2009 such a success. The Anglo-American conference has been running at the IHR since 1921 and is the main national history event of the academic calendar. This is a wonderful opportunity for us and for you to communicate to the wider history community some of the findings and concerns of the environmental sector past, present and future.

I shall be attending the NACBS in Louisville next month and looking forward to updating you with more news on the AA2010 and other IHR developments then.

Yours sincerely,

(Professor) Miles Taylor, 
Director of the Institute of Historical Research
Anglo-American Conference 2010: Environments
Call for papers now open at www.history.ac.uk/aac2010

For further details please contact: jennifer.wallis@sas.ac.uk

Due to the high demand for NACBS Rooms at the Hyatt Regency Louisville, we may run out of accommodation there at the Conference rate.   We advise those who are unable to secure rooms at the Hyatt to book at the adjacent Marriott Louisville Downtown, which is the headquarters hotel for the concurrent Southern Historical Association Meeting.  At present, rooms are available there for $115 per night.  To book at the Marriott, please call (800) 533-0127 or access the online portal at http://www.uga.edu/sha/meeting/index.htm.  When booking, please ask for the Southern Historical Association rate.  We advise you to book by our deadline of October 14.  In the event that rooms become unavailable at the Marriott, please contact the conference organizers, who will make what efforts we can to secure more rooms at this late date.

Additionally, The Southern Historical Association has compiled an excellent Louisville Restaurant Guide, which can be found at http://www.uga.edu/sha/meeting/dining_guide.pdf.  During the Conference, those who are interested can also visit the Local Arrangements Table of the Southern Historical Association in the Marriott, where they can find more information and some discount opportunities for downtown restaurants.

Finally, for further information on Louisville visit the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at www.gotolouisville.com <http://www.gotolouisville.com/> .

Sincerely yours,

Lara Kriegel, NACBS Program Chair
Mark Lester, SCBS President and Local Arrangements Chair

The following reviews of interest to followers of The British and Irish Studies Intelligencer were published in August on the Institute of Historical Research’s e-journal Reviews in History.

First, Lynne Walker finds much of interest (no. 786) in Judith Neiswander’s new study of the popular literature of Victorian interior decoration, The Cosmopolitan Interior: Liberalism and the British Home 1870-1914.

Frank Turner then assesses (no. 787) Ruth Windscheffel’s attempt to find a new perspective on Gladstone through an examination of his reading habits, in Reading Gladstone.

We also have Hilda Kean’s critical take (no. 789) on A History of Attitudes and Behaviours toward Animals in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Britain. Anthropocentrism and the Emergence of Animals by Rob Boddice, whose reply can be found here.

Next Ariel Hessayon (no. 798) deals with a work which examines the period of gradual and informal Jewish readmission to England, Eliane Glaser’s Judaism without Jews: Philosemitism and Christian Polemic in Early Modern England. Her response can be read here.

Finally there is an amicable exchange (no. 799 and response) between Gareth Atkins and Richard Blake over the latter’s exploration of the increasing concern for spiritual and moral wellbeing in the British Navy in his Evangelicals in the Royal Navy, 1775–1815: Blue Lights and Psalm-Singers.

As ever, please feel free to send all comments, including suggestions for books you would like to see on Reviews in History to the deputy editor Danny Millum.

2010 NACBS-HUNTINGTON LIBRARY FELLOWSHIP COMPETITION

The NACBS, in collaboration with the Huntington Library, offers annually the NACBS-HUNTINGTON LIBRARY FELLOWSHIP to aid in dissertation research in British Studies using the collections of the library.  The amount of the fellowship is $2000.  A requirement for holding the fellowship is that the time of tenure be spent in residence at the Huntington Library.  The time of residence varies, but may be as brief as one month. Applicants must be U. S. or Canadian citizens or permanent residents and enrolled in a Ph.D. program in a U. S. or Canadian institution.

Nominations and applications for the 2010 award are invited. Please note that the timing of the competition has been moved forward to the fall, with applications due on November 30, 2009.  Applications should consist of a curriculum vitae, two supporting letters (one from the applicant’s dissertation advisor), and a description of the dissertation research project. The letter should include a description of the materials to be consulted at the Huntington and the reason that these are essential sources for the dissertation.

A copy of the application package should be sent to each member of the Huntington Library Fellowship Committee listed below. Letters should be placed in sealed envelopes, signed across the flap and given to the applicant for inclusion in the application package. Applications must be postmarked by November 30, 2009. Awards will be announced by January 30, 2010. Send materials to: Professor Gary De Krey, Department of History, St Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Avenue, Northfield, MN 55057 (email: dekrey@stolaf.edu), Professor Johann Sommerville, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of History, 3211 Mosse Humanities Bldg, 455 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706 (email: jsommerv@wisc.edu), and Professor Melissa Harkrider, Department of History, Wheaton College, 501 College Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187 (email: Melissa.L.Harkrider@wheaton.edu).

Natalie Ceeney
Chief Executive
The National Archives
Ruskin Avenue
Kew, Richmond
Surrey, TW9 4DU

10 September 2009

Dear Ms. Ceeney,

We write as the principal officers of the North American Conference on
British Studies to express our concern regarding the proposed changes to
TNA service prompted by budgetary cuts. While we realise that changes
are necessary given current economic conditions, and that TNA is
answerable to the British government and must implement costs-savings,
we join a considerable number of other interested groups and individuals
in questioning whether the cuts proposed are the wisest measures TNA
could take to reduce its expenditures.

We represent a large group of scholars, based mainly albeit not
exclusively in Canada and the United States, many of whom use the
archives on a regular basis and for whom it is a vital resource for
their scholarship and career advancement. We include in our numbers not
only those who hold academic positions but also independent scholars and
students working towards higher degrees. For all of these
constituencies, reduced access to TNA will, without question, be a
significant blow. Ours is a membership that, for the most part, can
visit London only for limited periods, and the reduction of hours that a
full day closing each week represents will hit them severely.

Likewise, the vagueness in TNA’s proposed staffing reductions is
worrying. Many of our younger members in particular benefit considerably
from the expertise of your specialist research staff. Reduction in their
numbers or availability will have a direct and powerful impact on
scholars unfamiliar with your holdings, and even on those already
experienced in using your collections.

All of us count TNA amongst the most valuable of the resources we use to
further our studies and researches in a variety of British studies
disciplines, and we are wholly supportive of the organisation. We write,
as so many others both in and beyond British shores have done, to urge a
wholesale reconsideration of the proposed cuts.

Yours sincerely,

Barbara Harris, President, North American Conference on British Studies;
Professor Emerita, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Philippa Levine, Vice-President and President-Elect, Professor,
University of Southern California

William Lubenow, Immediate Past President, Professor, Richard Stockton
College of New Jersey

Andrew August, Executive Secretary, Professor, Pennsylvania State University

The following reviews of interest to followers of The British and Irish Studies Intelligencer were published in August on the Institute of Historical Research’s e-journal Reviews in History.

Two of these are concerned with Ireland. The first (no. 777) consists of a fascinating exchange between Micheál Ó Siochrú (see his response here) and Jason Peacey regarding the former’s recent publication God’s Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland. Emmett O’Connor then reviews (no. 784) the recent biography of Jack Lynch (Jack Lynch: a Biography) by Dermot Keogh, challenging what he sees as the book’s attempts to rehabilitate the former Irish Taoiseach’s reputation.

In addition, Kevin Jefferys takes on (no. 780) Parties at War. Political Organisation in Second World War Britain, written by Andrew Thorpe, while Justin Champion reviews (no. 781) The Blasphemies of Thomas Aikenhead. Boundaries of Belief on the Eve of the Enlightenment, with the author Michael Graham responding here.

As ever, please feel free to send all comments, including suggestions for books you would like to see on Reviews in History to the deputy editor Danny Millum.

PCCBS will hold its 2010 conference at Pomona College in Claremont, CA, March 19-21, 2010. More information will be forthcoming. Rooms will be reserved for registrants at the Doubletree Hotel.

For more information, visit the PCCBS website: http://www.pccbs.org/?p=127

The 2009 NACBS election will be held through 6 October 2009. An email with a link to cast your vote was sent to all members with valid email addresses on 25 August 2009. If you prefer to cast your vote manually or the automated link in the email does not work, please contact Darrick Clayton via email at darrick@bigpulse.com or by calling 415.643.3423.

For those members who do not have email addresses on file, paper ballots will be mailed in the first week of September. The deadline for receipt of paper ballots in the Executive Secretary’s office is 6 October 2009.

For more information about the 2009 candidates for NACBS offices, click here.

This month Reviews in History focusses on urban history and cities, co-inciding with the IHR’s Anglo-American Conference on the same theme.

Three of these reviews are of London-centred studies. There is an assessment by Justin Colson (no. 766, with response) of an attempt to bring together archaeological, documentary and architectural evidence relating to the London Guildhall, namely The London Guildhall: an Archaeological History of a Neighbourhood from Early Medieval to Modern Times by David Bowsher et al.

Then Jacob Field reviews (no. 767) Lost Londons: Change, Crime and Control in the Capital City 1550–1660, Paul Griffiths’ analysis of crime and migrant workers in London during this period. The author’s response can be found here.

Lastly James Gregory (no. 771) takes on Guilty Money: The City of London in Victorian and Edwardian Culture by Ranald Michie (see here for his response), which looks at the way the Square Mile was portrayed in the fiction of this period.

There is also a review (no. 769) by Kate Bradley of Andrew Davies’ book The Gangs of Manchester, the inspiration for the play Angels With Manky Faces which opened last week.

As ever, please feel free to send all comments, including suggestions for books you would like to see on Reviews in History to the deputy editor Danny Millum at danny.millum@sas.ac.uk.