'The History of Reading' offers an accessible overview of this developing discipline, from the rise of literacy through to the current trend of book clubs.

We inhabit a textually super-saturated and increasingly literate world. This volume encourages readers to consider the diverse methodologies used by historians of reading globally, and indicates how future research might take up the challenge of recording and interpreting the practices of readers in an increasingly digitized society.

The modern professional police force is probably one of Britain's most significant exports. In little over a century, Britain went from having a largely amateur and local law enforcement system to the type of police force we still recognize today. The first modern police force of its kind, it has become the model which has been adapted and copied across the world. This is not a story of unbroken progress. Newer methods of policing challenged English ideas of liberty and were greeted with distrust. Over time changing social conditions, particularly with the rise of large industrial cities, led...

The penal system in nineteenth-century England was incredibly complicated. It comprised two types of prison: convict prisons and local prisons. While convict prisons were under the direct control of the Home Office, local prisons were, until the 1877 Prison Act, managed by a whole host of different local authorities, from counties and boroughs to liberties and even cathedrals. Moreover, included among convict prisons were penitentiaries, public works prisons and prison hulks (also known as floating prisons), while local prisons included gaols, bridewells and lock-ups. This complexity has led...