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. 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.

The University College of Nottingham opened in 1881, funded by Nottingham Corporation, and on land in the centre of the town. It expanded in student numbers and in the courses available, and in 1928 it moved to a new site at Highfields, three miles west of Nottingham city centre, given by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur Jesse Boot. In 1948, after much lobbying, the University College was awarded a Royal charter, allowing it to award its own degrees. Student numbers grew through the 1950s and 1960s, but speeded up with the opening of the Medical School in 1977, and then in conjunction with...