In the quieter corners of The British Library storage areas, lies a remarkable historical collection of trade literature.  

This material, once part of the Patent Office Library, offers researchers an insight into the industrial, commercial and domestic landscape of Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It mainly comprises British material, but a number of items from other countries, including the US, France and Germany, were also collected.  This is now considered one of the largest and rarest collections in the country. 

Thanks to the Unlocking Hidden Collections initiative, approximately 17,000 long-overlooked catalogues are being brought to light. This major project aims to discover, catalogue, and preserve collections at the British Library that have remained largely unknown to academics, historians, and the public. Through this effort, we will make valuable information accessible to researchers studying industrial innovation, economic development, and cultural trends in the last centuries. 

In this initial stage of the Unlocking Hidden Collections project, I have been examining the material in the collection, identifying any conservation needs and discovering all kinds of beautiful and interesting publications. These are catalogues covering a wide range of industries, including metallurgy, chemical, agriculture, construction, telecommunications, transport, furniture, arts and more. 

 

“A list, with descriptions, illustrations, and prices, of whatever relates to aquaria” - William Alford Lloyd, 1858. 

For example, the “Aquaria” catalogue published by William Alford Lloyd in 1858 is one of the oldest catalogues found in the collection so far. It contains images and information about aquariums and the cultivation of marine plants and animals. William Alford Lloyd was a self-taught English zoologist who became the first professional aquarist. Lloyd opened the earliest aquarium shop in history and started to advertise it in 1855 in the weekly periodical Notes and Queries. 

 

 

“Sels de radium et autres substances radioactives” - Sels de Radium - 1906/1907. 

The catalogue published by the Sels de Radium is another rare example that illustrates the uniqueness of the collection. The company was owned by Emile Armet de Lisle, a French industrialist and chemist who helped develop the French radium industry in the early 20th century.  The Armet de Lisle factories exclusively carried out all processing of the ores belonging to Marie Curie, with a view to extracting radium, polonium and actinium, intended for her laboratory. 

 

 

“The "Allenburys" series of infants' food" - Allen & Hanburys Ltd.,1904. 

As a researcher interested in the History of Childhood, Families and Women, it was a great surprise for me when I discovered some catalogues of Allen & Hanburys in the trade literature collection.   The company specialised in infants' foods, dietetic products, medicated pastilles, malt preparations as well as galenical preparations. The interesting fact about this catalogue is that it also provides general information about all aspects of motherhood such as teething and common illnesses in early childhood. This shows that trade catalogues had a different purpose other than selling business products. 

The trade literature collection (1850-1940) is an important research source covering the history of both individual businesses and whole industries - technological advances, product development, design, marketing and, ultimately, trends in consumption.  Similarly, it is a particularly valuable resource for collectors, historians, economists, museum curators, antique dealers and enthusiasts because they are specifically focused on products e.g. steam engines, ceramics, clocks, agricultural machinery etc.  

It is also worth noting that product literature has much more to say about a business than just its products. For example, it may contain illustrations of premises and work processes, addresses of factories and names of subsidiaries which provide an outline of corporate organisation in both the UK and overseas and corporate identity information such as logos.  

 

Brown Bayley’s Steel Works Ltd., Sheffield – Pictures of the interior, c.1913? 

Take as an example this catalogue from Brown Bailey’s Steels (pictured above), a beautiful collection of artworks by William Luker Jr. on steelworks in which appears to be a commemorative catalogue of the company. During the First World War, the firm became an important producer of alloy steels for the motor car and aircraft industry. It was also an early developer of stainless steel. 

Where different editions of a given item of product literature exist, taken together they allow the identification over time of changes in products, as well as in the other categories of information. Such information assumes real importance if no other archives of a business have survived. 

The Unlocking Hidden Collections project has been instrumental in making this material and other treasures of the British Library accessible to the public and we will continue working on expanding the possibilities for researchers, educators and curious minds to delve into our collections.  

 

This blog post was written by Fernanda Turina, trade literature cataloguer working on the British Library’s Unlocking Hidden Collections project.  This initiative aims to process, research and catalogue the Library’s hidden collections, making them more accessible to researchers and the public. 

The British Library holds a wealth of books, journals, social studies, historical documents and official publications. Readers can examine the welfare state through a variety of topics from social work and social policy administration, governance and management and empirical studies. Our collections have considerable scope and provide historical context to a wide range of themes.  

Now that the remote ordering system has been restored, it is much easier for readers to gain access to printed books and journals.  To use the remote ordering system, readers need to have registered for, or renewed, their reader's pass after 21 March 2024.  This post highlights publications that offer an insight into some of the issues that influence government policy, that can be ordered from home for viewing in the reading room. 

 

Introducing social policy, by Cliff Alcock, Guy Daly, and Edwin Griggs. 2nd edition. Harlow: Longman, 2008. Shelfmark YC.2012.a.3656

Introducing social policy (YC.2012.a.3656) provides a historical overview of welfare provision as it emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and progressed into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The authors provide an overview of how contemporary social policy is governed and suggest ways researchers can adopt a theoretical approach to studying relevant policy areas.  These include social security, health services, social services, education, employment and housing. 

 

Citizen, state, and social welfare in Britain 1830-1990, by Geoffrey Finlayson.  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Shelfmark YC.1994.a.1887

 

In Citizen, state and social welfare in Britain (YC.1994.a.1887),  Geoffrey Finlayson states that the beginning and growth of the welfare state is highly contested and open to debate. Traditionally the processes of state control were seen to emerge in the 1830s, but one could argue that the process began in the late 17^th century.

Finlayson also states that emphasising the emergence of state provision tends to ignore the ‘mixed economy of welfare’. Voluntary activities representing a broad coalition of services have until recently been excluded from research in this area. 

His study is divided into four sections:

1830-1880: providence, paternalism and philanthropy 

1880-1914: challenge, collectivism, and convergence 

1914-1949: war, want, and welfare 

1949-1991: participation, perception, and pluralism 

 

Divided kingdom : a history of Britain, 1900 to the present, by Pat Thane.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Shelfmark YC.2019.b.1339

 

In Divided Kingdom: a history of Britain (YC.2019.b.1339), Pat Thane presents a broad picture of the UK and the political, economic, social and cultural changes which occurred since 1900. He reveals how the decolonisation of empire after the Second World War impacted Britain’s status and influence in the world and how the unity of the UK was affected by the devolution of domestic powers. Thane argues that although state welfare expanded after 1945 and partially survived into the 21^st century, its provision was curtailed by successive governments since the 1980s when many services were outsourced to private contractors. 

 

Welfare and social policy in Britain since 1870; essays in honour of Jose Harris, edited by Lawrence Goldman.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. YC.2019.a.8933

 

Composed as a tribute to the renowned social theory historian Jose Harris, the essays in Welfare and social policy in Britain since 1870 (YC.2019.a.8933), examine the different approaches to welfare provision in Britain since the Victorian era. Stating that philanthropy was firmly rooted within an imperialist notion of community, the collection assesses the foundations of the welfare state within the context of the Beveridge report and socialist ideals.  

In her essay ‘The Reluctant Planner’ on T.H. Marshall, Julia Moses identifies a shift in post war attitudes away from an earlier tradition of philosophical idealism in social reform towards a universal equality that coexists with material wealth. Other essays in the same volume go on to examine how the foundational ideas of the welfare state were by turns exonerated and rebuffed by successive governments and state actors.  

In a chapter entitled ‘Reshaping the Welfare State’,  John Davis discusses the relative benefits that welfare provision brought to industrialised centres after the Second World War. He also highlights the work of the Institute of Community Studies and the Child Poverty Action Group during the 1960s which recognised the needs of the elderly, disabled and the mentally ill. As the complexity of the social makeup in urban areas and the inadequacy of housing stock became apparent, it meant that statutory services were not responding to new challenges. A consequence of this set of circumstances was that voluntary agencies then became more prevalent. 

 

Imagined orphans: poor families, child welfare, and contested citizenship in London, by Lydia Murdoch. New Brunswick, N.J.; London: Rutgers University Press, 2006.  Shelfmark m06/.21505

 

In her study of child welfare in late Victorian London, Imagined Orphans: poor families, child welfare, and contested citizenship in London (m06/.21505), Lydia Murdoch focuses on the cultural representations of child poverty and the reality of children’s experiences within welfare institutions in the nineteenth century. While reformers’ motivations were well intentioned, Murdoch shows how they conveyed an anti-poor sentiment that justified a minimalist welfare state. This study also reveals how institutions reacted and adapted to changing values during the First World War. 

 

Continuity and change in voluntary action : patterns, trends and understandings, by Rose Lindsey and John Mohan. Bristol: Policy Press, 2019. Shelfmark YKL.2020.a.2072

 

In their series of essays on the voluntary sector, Continuity and change in voluntary action (YKL.2020.a.2072), Rose Lindsey and John Mohan provide a comprehensive analysis of the social makeup and policy environment of volunteering in Britain since 1979. 

The opening chapter discusses the expansion of voluntary activity as a means of ‘renewing the values of society’. It also identifies the shifting attitudes towards voluntary activity during the Thatcher, Blair/Brown and coalition governments.  

This incisive study identifies trends, trajectories over the life course and attitudes to voluntary work. It also offers a clear analysis of qualitative datasets from the Mass Observation Project and the British Household Panel Survey.

 

The study of social welfare in Britain encompasses a broad range of themes across a number of subject areas and disciplines. In addition to the listed publications, it is possible to investigate social welfare through our extensive collection of reports, journals and government documents. Some of these rarely used sources include reports from the Charity Organisation Society, conference papers, and a complete run of journals from the British Association of Social Workers, as well as publications from the Central Office of Information.

 

UK parliamentary papers are available to view in the Social Sciences Reading Room. Encyclopedias, dictionaries and some research monographs are held on the open shelves.

 

Please check the catalogue or contact the social sciences reference team for more information.

 

Ben Hadley, Social Sciences Subject Librarian

 

 

 

Dr. Paul Stephenson OBE was one of Britain’s most important civil rights campaigners, and a leading organiser of the Bristol bus boycott in 1963. Following his recent passing at the age of 87, this post highlights the resources the British Library can offer for anyone wanting to find out more about his life and work.  

Paul Stephenson made history, but also understood the importance of recording that history through archives and books. He wrote his memoirs and published them with Tangent Books in Bristol, a “purposefully radical publisher”. This post goes on to celebrate some of the remarkable independent publishers in Bristol who have worked to ensure that Paul Stephenson’s story is told, along with many other ‘untold stories’ of people determined to make change. 

 

Second, enlarged, edition of Memoirs of a Black Englishman by Paul Stephenson and Lilleith Morrison. Bristol: Tangent Books, 2021. YKL.2022.a.35798

 

Born in Essex in 1937, Paul Stephenson served in the RAF from 1953 until 1960. After completing a Diploma in Youth and Community Work in Birmingham, he was appointed as a youth worker by Bristol City Council, becoming the city’s first Black social worker.

At that time the Bristol Omnibus Company running the city’s bus services only employed white drivers and conductors and actively discriminated against Black and Asian people by barring them from this work. In 1963 Stephenson joined with others, first to expose this policy, and then to overturn the ‘colour bar’.  Inspired by Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, he called for a boycott of the buses in Bristol. 

Black Bristolians who had formed the West Indian Development Council to fight discrimination were joined by students and many others. The boycott of bus services was supplemented by demonstrations and sit-ins outside the bus station. 

Company managers and the local representatives of the Transport & General Workers Union initially justified the ban on Black workers.  Stephenson was described as “irresponsible and dishonest” by the TGWU regional secretary Ron Nethercott, but he successfully sued and won damages, gaining further publicity and national support for the boycott.

Among prominent supporters of the campaign were Labour MPs Tony Benn and Fenner Brockway (the latter had earlier pushed for legislation to ban racial discrimination), as well as former Trinidadian cricketer Learie Constantine. Learie Constantine had himself challenged racial discrimination in the 1940s, successfully suing a hotel company when he and his family were refused accommodation on the grounds of their race. 

 

Learie Constantine and race relations in Britain and the Empire, by Jeff Hill. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. British Library shelfmark YC.2019.a.5854

 

Learie Constantine qualified as a barrister and also worked as a journalist and broadcaster.  At the time of the Bristol bus boycott, he was the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to the UK. His public profile gave the bus boycott wider media coverage.

After four months, the bus company backed down, announcing that it would no longer bar Black and Asian people from becoming drivers and conductors.  This came on the same day as Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech at the March on Washington, 28 August 1963.

Future Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson also supported the boycott, and once he was in office, he introduced the Race Relations Act in 1965 making racial discrimination in employment illegal – one landmark in the ongoing struggle for equity.

Paul Stephenson went on to work in leading roles for organisations challenging racial discrimination, notably working with champion heavyweight boxer and civil rights campaigner Muhammad Ali on programmes to encourage and facilitate participation in sport for Black and Asian people. This obituary, written by Professor Kehinde Andrews details some aspects of his work.

 

Where do publishers, libraries and archives come into the story?

Paul Stephenson was an active proponent of self-archiving, understanding that it is one thing to make history and fight for change and another to create and preserve the historical record of struggle and presence.  His own memoir, co-written with Lilleith Morrison, may be seen as one manifestation of his determination to ensure that there would be a historical record of his actions, effectively reclaiming the narrative.

First edition (2011) Memoirs of a Black Englishman by Paul Stephenson and Lilleith Morrison. Bristol: Tangent Books, 2011.  YK.2012.a.27533

 

A further manifestation was Stephenson’s role in setting up the Black Bristol Archives Partnership (BBAP) in 2007 when he placed his own personal archives with Bristol's City Record Office for safekeeping. The Partnership aimed to collect and make accessible archives and artefacts to preserve the record of Black Bristolians in all walks of life from Gylman Ivie, baptised in Dyrham in 1574, to the present day.

The Partnership created calendars celebrating local African-Caribbean achievers, exhibitions, and a learning resource for schools in Bristol called Black Bristolians: People Who Make a Difference.  Paul Stephenson’s work also made a contribution to opening up and addressing the question of Bristol's role in the slave trade.

 

Books about the Bristol Bus Boycott

For all its importance in overturning the ‘colour bar’ and bringing about the Race Relations Act of 1965, relatively little has been written about the Bristol bus boycott other than in wider histories.  There are resources online including a BBC World Service Witness History film featuring Guy Bailey, Paul Stephenson and a short clip of Learie Constantine, and another three-minute film entitled Paul Stephenson: A Journey to Justice where Stephenson explains the campaign. There are links to other online sources at the end of this post.

The small number of books specifically about the boycott have come about mainly through the work of locally-based, radical publishers, including Bristol Broadsides, Tangent Books, and Bristol Radical History Group.  These were joined in 2022 by a school reading book published within the Collins Big Cat series, written by Sandra Agard, who traces her own roots in writing to her involvement in the ground-breaking cooperative bookshop and publisher Centerprise in Hackney.

 

Bristol Broadsides : Black and White on the buses

One of very few books written about the Bristol bus boycott is ‘Black and White on the buses’ a detailed and well-referenced 69-page pamphlet by Madge Dresser, published by Bristol Broadsides.  As a historian, Madge Dresser’s work has centred on Atlantic Slavery, slavery and memory, and pubic history, also taking in the history of minority communities and gender history.

Black and white on the buses: the 1963 colour bar dispute in Bristol, by Madge Dresser. Bristol: Bristol Broadsides, 1987  YC.1989.a.10258

 

Bristol Broadsides was a publishing cooperative and member of the Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers, and was active from 1976 to 1991.  There is a fascinating and detailed history of the inception and work of Bristol Broadsides written by Jane Duffus on the Bristol Ideas website.  It features the account of Ian Bild who had himself been inspired by the work of Ken Worpole and others at Centerprise in Hackney from 1971 onwards.

 

Tangent Books

Paul Stephenson’s biography was first published in Bristol by Tangent Books.  They brought out a new, enlarged edition in 2021. In 2013 Tangent Books republished Madge Dresser’s account of the Bristol Bus Boycott to bring it back into circulation.  Since 2004, Tangent Books has been publishing books about Bristol and by Bristol authors. Their publications form an archive of Bristol history, reference, fiction, poetry and counter-culture, including titles on Bristol music and street art.  Tangent aim “to publish books whose stories, thoughts, images and writing will not be published elsewhere”.  Tangent produced learning materials on Memoirs of a Black Englishman available for free download.

 

Bristol Radical History Group – The 1963 Bristol bus boycott

This year (2024) Bristol Radical History Group have published an account of the Boycott by Silu Pascoe and Joyce Morris-Wisdom. Silu Pascoe is a retired social worker who has researched some major historical events and found ‘hidden histories’ of Black people within them.  Her research into her own family’s history has revealed connections with local, national and international history.  Joyce Morris-Wisdom was 14 when she began protesting with fellow boycotters.  She speaks in schools to share her story, recalling how she took time off from school to protest with a mixture of pride in her actions and fear for her safety amid beatings and reprisals.

 

The 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, by Silu Pascoe and Joyce Morris-Wisdom.  Bristol, Bristol Radical Pamphleteers, no. 66, 2024 (image from publisher website)

 

Other books and pamphlets published by Bristol Radical History Group and held by the Library can be found here.  Many are short booklets, but there are also substantial studies delivering high-powered academic work in a readable format, including From Wulfstan to Colston : Severing the sinews of slavery in Bristol, by Mark Steeds and Roger Ball. Bristol: Bristol Radical History Group, 2020 (434pp.)

 

From Wulfstan to Colston : Severing the sinews of slavery in Bristol, by Mark Steeds and Roger Ball. Bristol: Bristol Radical History Group, 2020.  British Library shelfmark YK.2022.a.2734

 

Sandra A. Agard: bringing history and life stories into schools

It’s long been clear that radical and small independent publishers punch above their weight when it comes to telling ‘untold stories’.  But it’s really important that these stories go further, and can be incorporated to the history taught in schools and general reading. Among the big publishers, the only one to have so far included a history of the Bristol bus boycott on their list is Collins (a division of the publishing giant Harper Collins).  In 2022 they added The Bristol Bus Boycott: a fight for racial justice by Sandra A. Agard and Chellie Carroll to their Big Cat series of schools reading books.

The Bristol Bus Boycott: a fight for racial justice. Sandra A. Agard and Chellie Carroll. London, Collins Big Cat, 2022 (Ruby / Band 14 reading book.)  Image from publisher website: not yet available in the Library due to delays caused by the cyber incident.

 

Sandra A. Agard is a storyteller, writer, literary consultant and cultural historian.  She helps children connect with stories and gives them confidence to write and tell their own stories through her work as a learning facilitator in the Library’s Learning Team. The most recent book by Sandra currently available in the Library is her 170-page Trailblazers’ children’s book about Harriet Tubman: Harriet Tubman: a journey to freedom, by Sandra A. Agard, illustrated by Luisa Uribe, George Ermos, and Manhar Chauhan. London: Stripes, 2019  British Library shelfmark YKL.2020.a.6957 . Stripes is an imprint of Little Tiger, now part of Penguin Random House. There is a video of Sandra reading from the book on the Little Tiger website.

Harriet Tubman: a journey to freedom, by Sandra A. Agard, illustrated by Luisa Uribe, George Ermos, and Manhar Chauhan. London: Stripes, 2019  British Library shelfmark YKL.2020.a.6957

 

Sandra Agard was first encouraged to write and see herself as a writer through her involvement with Centerprise community centre, bookshop and publisher in Hackney.  The Library holds Rosa Schling’s work about Centerprise, based on oral history interviews with some of the participants. The lime green mystery: an oral history of the Centerprise co-operative, by Rosa Schling. London: On The Record, 2017.  British Library shelfmark YKL.2018.a.12258  (The book is also available freely online.)

 

The lime green mystery: an oral history of the Centerprise co-operative, by Rosa Schling. London: On The Record, 2017.  British Library shelfmark YKL.2018.a.12258

 

That the Library holds these books is largely due to ‘legal deposit’ whereby publishers deposit a copy of their books with the British Library (and the other legal deposit libraries, on request).  Holding these books and making them available for research contributes to enabling future generations to explore their past, draw inspiration from it, and shape their own work.

In writing this blog post, I am aware that I have moved away from writing about Paul Stephenson to consider wider aspects of archiving, publishing and preserving history. To return to Paul Stephenson, I would like to close with his words about the Black Bristol Archives Partnership:

“Our work ensures that the work and achievements of people of African descent are not only fully recognised but also preserved as a legacy for future generations.  We owe it to our children.”  (http://ourmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Bristol-Black-Archives-Partnership-text.pdf )

 

Books by Bristol independent, radical publishers that can be read in the Library, included in our interim catalogue (to April 2023):

Bristol Broadsides’ publications held by the Library are here

Bristol Radical History Group publications held by the Library are here

Tangent Books’ publications in the Library are here

 

Accounts of the Bristol Bus Boycott available online include:

Detailed article on the Black History Month website.  https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/civil-rights-movement/the-bristol-bus-boycott-of-1963/ .

A BBC article gives an account written following Paul Stephenson’s passing.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5m864ny6qo

Paul Stephenson Obituary, by Professor Kehinde Andrews, The Guardian, 22 November, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/22/paul-stephenson-obituary

Article in The Guardian following the passing of fellow campaigner Roy Hackett:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/03/bristol-bus-boycott-campaigner-roy-hackett-dies-at-93

A profile article in The Guardian from 2020:    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/01/paul-stephenson-the-hero-who-refused-to-leave-a-pub-and-helped-desegregate-britain

A BBC KS2 History Resource with 5-minute video and teaching notes featuring former Olympic athlete and activist Vernon Samuels whose father became Bristol’s first Black bus driver. https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/articles/z9k4g7h

‘How the Bristol bus boycott changed UK civil rights’, short film, Witness History, BBC World Service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQXwh__d2S4

BBC article written 50 years after the boycott, 2013:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23795655

BBC film from 2013 with Guy Bailey, Paul Stephenson and Roy Hackett: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-21525110

Paul Stephenson: a journey to justice film on Jeremy Corbyn channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0eR7dH7BYY

Black Curriculum animated film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSyzaXXKUaQ

Roy Hackett speaking about his role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUjZkmxnWV8

 

References

Agard, Sandra A., with Luisa Uribe, George Ermos, and Manhar Chauhan:  Harriet Tubman: a journey to freedom. London: Stripes, 2019  British Library shelfmark YKL.2020.a.6957

Agard, Sandra A. and Carroll Chellie: The Bristol Bus Boycott: a fight for racial justice. London, Collins Big Cat, 2022 (Ruby/Band 14 reading book.) 

Bristol Archives record for Black Bristol Archives Partnership   https://archives.bristol.gov.uk/records/43765

Bristol Museum text about Black Bristol Archives Partnership http://ourmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Bristol-Black-Archives-Partnership-text.pdf

Dresser, Madge: Black and White on the Buses: the campaign against the colour bar in Bristol.  Bristol: Bristol Broadsides, 1987 YC.1989.a.10258

Dresser, Madge: Black and White on the Buses: the campaign against the colour bar in Bristol.  New edition Bristol: Tangent Press 2013 (not held in Library)

Hill, Jeff: Learie Constantine and race relations in Britain and the Empire. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. British Library shelfmark YC.2019.a.5854

Pascoe, Silu and Morris-Wisdom, Joyce: The 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott.  Bristol, Bristol Radical Pamphleteers, no. 66, 2024 (not yet in Library)

Schling, Rosa: The lime green mystery: an oral history of the Centerprise co-operative. London: On The Record, 2017.  British Library shelfmark YKL.2018.a.12258

Steeds, Mark and Ball, Roger: From Wulfstan to Colston : Severing the sinews of slavery in Bristol. Bristol: Bristol Radical History Group, 2020.  British Library shelfmark YK.2022.a.2734

Stephenson, Paul and Lilleith Morrison: Memoirs of a Black Englishman (First edition) Bristol: Tangent Books, 2011.  YK.2012.a.27533

Stephenson, Paul and Lilleith Morrison: Memoirs of a Black Englishman (New, enlarged edition) Bristol: Tangent Books, 2021. YKL.2022.a.35798 (stored offsite)

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Dr.Debbie Cox, November 2024.

Last year’s cyber-attack on the Library continues to impact on social science disciplines where researchers rely on current material.  Whilst remote ordering for print and archival materials received before April 2023 has now been restored, the Library remains unable to provide access to published material held in digital formats (ebooks, ejournals and archived web content) and to print materials received after April 2023.

Rather than focusing on recent work, at the conclusion of this year’s Black History Month, it seems fitting to present a retrospective overview of the work of one of someone who has been at the forefront of reclaiming the historical narrative for over three decades. Hakim Adi held the post of Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester, until the university discontinued the Masters course on which he taught and made him redundant in July 2023.  He was the first historian of African heritage to become a professor of history in Britain. Hakim Adi established a ground-breaking Masters by Research (MRes) programme on the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at Chichester. His most recent work, African and Caribbean People in Britain (Penguin, 2023) was shortlisted for the prestigious Wolfson history prize, and he was instrumental in the founding of History Matters whose free, online journal is celebrating the organisation's 10^th year.   History Matters will host the 3rd New Perspectives on the History of African and Caribbean People in Britain Conference on Saturday 9 November 2024. 

 

Cover of Winter 2024 issue of History Matters Journal, Volume 4, no.1.

 

Hakim Adi founded the Young Historians Project to promote the study and popular understanding of Black history. The project encourages the development of young people of African and Caribbean heritage into historians, researchers, editors, public speakers, creatives, and more: passing the work of reclaiming the narrative to a new generation.  In this light, it perhaps not surprising that the earliest of Professor Adi’s works held by the Library is one of his books written for children, rather than adults: African migrations (Hove, Wayland, 1994, YK.1995.b.8866).   This book was republished with an updated cover by Hachette in 2021. 

 

African migrations, by Hakim Adi. Hove, Wayland, 1994. YK.1995.b.8866

 

This post highlights Hakim Adi’s books and chapters in collective works that are held by the Library in print format, and which are currently available to readers using the Library.   Professor Adi can be counted among the many voices calling for Black history to be incorporated more fully into the curriculum at school and university, and to be a concern across the whole year rather than confined to Black History Month.  The books featured in this post can be accessed in the Library’s reading rooms in London and Yorkshire. Anyone over 18 can register for a free reader’s pass to use the reading rooms.

 

The earliest of Professor Adi’s works for adults, co-authored with Marika Sherwood, and held by the Library recounts the history of the fifth, and arguably most significant, Pan African Congress, held in Manchester in 1945.  The book includes the report of the 5th Congress edited by leading Pan-Africanist and writer George Padmore (1903-1959). The book was published by Britain’s first Black publishers and bookshop, New Beacon Books, founded by John La Rose and Sarah White.

 

The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress revisited. Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. London: New Beacon Books  1995, YC.1995.a.3969

 

Adi followed on three years’ later with West Africans in Britain 1900-1960: nationalism, pan-Africanism and communism, which not only shines an important light on the lives of Black people living in Britain before the Second World War but also shows the influence these pioneers have had on a world scale.

 

West Africans in Britain, 1900-1960: nationalism, pan-Africanism and communism, by Hakim Adi. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1998   YC.1999.a.3231

 

An inside page from West Africans in Britain, 1900-1960: nationalism, pan-Africanism and communism, by Hakim Adi. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1998   YC.1999.a.3231

 

Professor Adi, again working with Marika Sherwood, followed up with a book tracing the wider history of political figures from Africa and the African diaspora.  Pan-African history: political figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, was published by Routledge in 2003.

 

Pan-African history: political figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, by Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. London: Routledge, 2003. YC.2004.a.199

 

Adi adapted his scholarship to author another book for children, The history of the African and Caribbean communities in Britain, published in London by Hodder Wayland in 2005, YK.2008.b.5900.  This book has been through multiple editions, and was republished most recently by Hachette in 2021.

The history of the African and Caribbean communities in Britain. London, Hodder Wayland, 2005. YK.2008.b.5900

Professor Adi’s concern not only with history but with the way colonial histories have been presented, comes to the fore in the chapter he contributed to a collective work edited by Simon Faulkner and Anandi Ramamurthy: Visual culture and decolonisation in Britain, YC.2007.a.933.  First published by Ashgate in 2006, and subsequently by Routledge, the book traces the way in which different visual genres – art, film, advertising, photography, news reports and ephemera – represented and contributed to political and social struggles over Empire and decolonisation during the mid-Twentieth century.  Hakim Adi wrote a chapter with Anandi Ramamurthy under the title, 'Fragments in the history of the visual culture of anti-colonial struggle'.

Simon Faulkner and Anandi Ramamurthy: Visual culture and decolonisation in Britain, YC.2007.a.933

 

Another chapter in a wide-ranging and fascinating historical work followed. Adi contributed the chapter on ‘The Negro question; the communist international and black liberation in the interwar years’ to From Toussaint to Tupac : the Black international since the age of revolution (Michael O. West, William G Martin and Fanon Che Wilkins) Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009, YC.2010.a.684. From Toussaint to Tupac is a collection of essays across geographic and cultural lines exploring black internationalism and its implications for a black consciousness. Its description reads, “At its core, black internationalism is a struggle against oppression, whether manifested in slavery, colonialism, or racism. The ten essays in this volume offer a comprehensive overview of the global movements that define black internationalism, from its origins in the colonial period to the present.”

From Toussaint to Tupac, YC.2010.a.684, in the centre of other books on the basement shelves, waiting to be ordered up to the reading rooms.

 

In 2011, with Caroline Bressey, Adi edited and contributed a chapter to Belonging in Europe : the African diaspora and work, London: Routledge  2011, YC.2014.a.9592.  In this book, which makes connections across Europe through the experience of work and labour, Adi’s chapter was on ‘The Comintern and Black Workers in Britain and France 1919-37’.  The book’s chapters cover the period from the long eighteenth century to the Second World War.

 

Belonging in Europe: the African diaspora and work, edited by Caroline Bressey and Hakim Adi, London: Routledge  2011, YC.2014.a.9592

 

A flavour of Caroline Bressey’s important work can be gained from her chapter (chapter 11) in Slavery and the British Country House (edited by Madge Dresser and Andrew Hann, and published by English Heritage, which is freely available online.

 

Adi updated and extended his earlier work on communism and Pan-Africanism in 2013, publishing the 445-page Pan-Africanism and communism: the communist international, Africa and the diaspora, 1919-1939. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2013. YC.2019.a.166

Pan-Africanism and communism: the communist international, Africa and the diaspora, 1919-1939. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2013. YC.2019.a.166

 

In 2018, Adi published Pan-Africanism: a history, Bloomsbury Academic, covering many key figures in the twentieth century development of Pan-African thought and practice from W.E.B. De Bois, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah through to the music of Bob Marley.  

Front cover of Pan-Africanism: a history, Hakim Adi, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018. YC.2019.a.2646

Back cover of Pan-Africanism: a history, Hakim Adi, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018. YC.2019.a.2646

 

Adi brought the work of established and emerging scholars together in the publication of his edited work Black British History: New Perspectives, Zed Books, 2019.  The book spans the centuries from the first Black Britons to the latest African migrants, covering everything from Africans in Tudor England to the movement for reparations. This is held in the Library as an ebook at ELD.DS.649502 and is not currently available.

Adi’s most recent sole-authored work, African and Caribbean People in Britain: a history, Penguin 2023 is also unavailable at present. He came to the British Library to speak about the book, in conversation with historian David Olusoga in November 2022. A recording of the event is available online  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqe5TyD09Yk

Adi's edited work, Many Struggles: New Histories of African and Caribbean People in Britain, Pluto Press, 2023, also features the work of emerging scholars and scholar-activists. The book draws on new archival research to emphasise often-neglected themes such as local histories, women, gender and political activism.  Voices from the archive also come to the fore in Black voices on Britain, London : Macmillan, 2022 (held digitally as ELD.DS.729195, not available at the moment).  In this book, Adi draws on published works to give voice to people who lived, worked, campaigned and travelled in Britain from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Writers featured include James Gronniosaw, Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass, and William Wells Brown among others.  The Library appreciates the patience and understanding of its users whilst these books, received in digital format, are unavailable to readers.  Similarly the Library is grateful for the understanding of publishers currently unable to deposit books in digital format whilst work is undertaken to make ebooks and ejournals available once more.

Fortunately, following up on references to chapters Hakim Adi has contributed to other works can lead to the discovery of major contributions to scholarship that aim to redress the historical narrative.   One such work is Representing slavery: art, artefacts and archives in the collections of the National Maritime Museum, edited by Douglas J. Hamilton and Robert J. Blyth (Aldershot: Lund Humphries: 2007. LC.31.a.5400.  Adi contributed a short chapter to this substantial work, which is currently available and is relevant to the work of a wide range of British institutions confronting the legacy of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.

Professor Adi’s work can also be found in another book available in the Library, with a detailed preview on JSTOR : Global Africa : into the twenty-first century, edited by Dorothy Hodgson and Judith Byfield, University of California Press, 2017.  YC.2018.a.12042

Global Africa : into the twenty-first century, edited by Dorothy Hodgson and Judith Byfield, University of California Press, 2017.  YC.2018.a.12042

 

Similarly Professor Adi’s history books for children, which are held by the Library, remain important markers along the way to creating a more inclusive and accurate narrative for a younger generation.

Nelson Mandela: father of freedom, by Hakim Adi. London: Hodder Wayland, 2000. YK.2001.b.3940 (stored in Yorkshire, allow 48 hours for delivery to London reading rooms)

 

References

African migrations, by Hakim Adi. Hove, Wayland, 1994. YK.1995.b.8866

The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress revisited. Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. London: New Beacon Books, 1995. YC.1995.a.3969

Pan-African history: political figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, by Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. London: Routledge, 2003. YC.2004.a.199

The history of the African and Caribbean communities in Britain, London, Hodder Wayland, 2005. YK.2008.b.5900.

(With Anandi Ramamurthy) 'Fragments in the history of the visual culture of anti-colonial struggle' in Visual culture and decolonisation in Britain, Simon Faulkner and Anandi Ramamurthy, Ashgate, 2006. YC.2007.a.933.

'Black people in Britain' in Representing slavery: art, artefacts and archives in the collections of the National Maritime Museum, edited by Douglas J. Hamilton and Robert J. Blyth Aldershot: Lund Humphries: 2007. LC.31.a.5400

‘The Negro question; the communist international and black liberation in the interwar years’ in From Toussaint to Tupac: the Black international since the age of revolution (Michael O. West, William G Martin and Fanon Che Wilkins) Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009, YC.2010.a.684.

Belonging in Europe: the African diaspora and work, edited by Caroline Bressey and Hakim Adi, London: Routledge  2011, YC.2014.a.9592

Pan-Africanism and communism: the communist international, Africa and the diaspora, 1919-1939. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2013. YC.2019.a.166

'Pan-Africanism: An Ideology and a Movement' in Global Africa : into the twenty-first century, edited by Dorothy Hodgson and Judith Byfield, University of California Press, 2017.  YC.2018.a.12042

Pan-Africanism: a history, Hakim Adi, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018. YC.2019.a.2646

Black British History: New Perspectives, Zed Books, 2019

 

Black voices on Britain, London : Macmillan, 2022

 

African and Caribbean People in Britain: a history, Penguin 2023

 

Many Struggles: New Histories of African and Caribbean People in Britain, Pluto Press, 2023

 

As Pride Month’s celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer communities comes to a close, this post picks out some of the books currently available to readers in the British Library.  Although our digital collections are not yet available following the cyber incident, our contemporary print collections in St Pancras offer a wide range of approaches to LGBT+ culture and history.  The books featured below are just a selection of more recent publications that are held in St Pancras and should be available to order to our reading rooms.

Our collections are particularly strong for their international coverage.   If you are keen to learn more about the development of transnational campaigns for LGBT+ rights from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, Laura Belmonte’s history of the international LGBT rights movement offers a good starting point.  The book celebrates the growing reach of struggles against homophobia but also flags up continuing threats to LGBT+ rights.

 

The international LGBT rights movement : a history. Laura A., Belmonte. London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.  Shelfmark YC.2022.a.6510

 

Another historical work, providing an international perspective spanning from Finland to New Zealand, the UK and USA, and focused on the first decade after the second World War is Queer 1950s: Rethinking Sexuality in the Postwar Years, edited by Heike Bauer and Matt Cook.   Collected essays examine the legacy of the 1950s and challenge preconceptions about this period.

 

Queer 1950s: Rethinking Sexuality in the Postwar Years, edited by H. Bauer and M. Cook. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.  Shelfmark YC.2022.a.1503

 

The work of activists, artists and academics comes together in another ground-breaking collection comprising essays, poems. literary analysis, ethnographies and methodological questions exploring LGBT+ experiences in the Caribbean.   The book aims to disrupt conventional understandings of the Caribbean as deeply homophobic by focusing on LGBT+ agency.

 

Beyond Homophobia: centring LGBTQ experiences in the Anglophone Caribbean, edited by Mojo Anderson and Erin C MacLeod.  Shelfmark YC.2021.a.5033

 

Still in the Caribbean, and focusing on the Hispanic nation of the Dominican Republic, Streetwalking by Ana-Mauríne Lara presents the varied strategies employed by LGBTQ community leaders in the Dominican Republic in their struggle for recognition, and rights. Lara employs Maria Lugones's theorisation of streetwalker strategies and Audre Lorde's theorisation of silence and action to explore the exercise of power and agency among the LGBTQ community of the Dominican Republic.

 

Streetwalking : LGBTQ lives and protest in the Dominican Republic, by Lara, Ana-Mauríne.  New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2021.  Shelfmark YC.2022.a.1315.

 

Published within Northwestern University Press' 'Critical Insurgencies' series of literary studies, Emilio Amideo's Queer Tidalectics brings a range of theoretical perspectives to bear on Black diasporic experience and aesthetics.   The book looks at the work of Anglophone writers James Baldwin, Jackie Kay, Thomas Glave, and Shani Mootoo. In particular, it explores their use of the idea of fluidity as a means to evade and overcome sexual, gender and racial boundaries. Amideo employs the theoretical perspectives of Sara Ahmed, Édouard Glissant and Edward Kamau Brathwaite, among others, in a fascinating and probing contribution to Black queer studies. 

 

Queer Tidalectics: Linguistic and Sexual Fluidity in Contemporary Black Diasporic Literature by Emilio Amideo. Northwestern University Press, 2021. Shelfmark YC.2022.a.5531



The Library's shelves are rich in academic studies applying theoretical approaches to a range of contemporary questions. But it's not all heavy theory: there are a broad range of more accessible texts waiting to be ordered up to our reading rooms. Georges-Claude Guilbert's book, Gay icons: the (mostly) female entertainers gay men love, provides a readable consideration of the way superstars and divas contribute to gay culture. The book focuses on individuals including Mae West, Julie Andrews, Britney Spears, RuPaul, and Cher to consider their appeal and what it is that makes them icons. This book is just one of many that consider gay or Queer icons in cinema, music and the arts. Other books to address this theme include The little book of queer icons by Samuel Alexander (London: Summersdale, 2019, shelfmark YC.2019.a.9751) and Heroes and exiles: gay icons through the ages, by Tom Ambrose (London: New Holland, 2010, shelfmark YC.2011.a.3923).

 

 

 

Gay icons: the (mostly) female entertainers gay men love, by Georges-Claude Guilbert. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2018  Shelfmark YC.2021.a.4232

 

Jeffrey Brown turns his gaze to the superheroes of popular media, including Hollywood films, TV series and comics, arguing that beyond the struggles of good versus evil, the superhero genre has always been about gender ideals: how men and women are supposed to look, act, and interact with each other. Superhero comics may reinforce sex roles, but their emphasis on transformation and body swaps can also work to blur gender binaries. Similarly, the importance of homosocial bonding adds another layer of complexity to the portrayal of gender identity within the genre. 

 

Love, sex, gender and super-heroes, by Jeffrey A. Brown. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2022. Shelfmark YC.2023.a.518

 

The books featured here are just a few that stood out on a walk along the shelves where some of the more recent print publications are stored in our basements.  When access to our digital collections returns, and when we are again able to offer readers access to the thousands of books kept in our automated storage buildings, readers will regain access to newer works alongside our historical collections.   For now, the Library's temporary catalogue allows readers to find the books and journals that arrived in the Library up to April 2023. The catalogue uses colour coding - red, orange, and green - to indicate whether a book or periodical should be available to readers. We may not yet be able to give access to the whole of our collections, but the books on the shelves at St Pancras allow scope for wide reading and study across the humanities and social sciences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post highlights a small selection of the many books published in the last two decades and available in the Library that bring a contemporary approach to the history and understanding of D-Day and the battle for France.

 

In The time left between us, by Alicia DeFonzo, Lincoln : Potomac Books (University of Nebraska Press), 2022, shelfmark m22/.11296, the author explores the link between past and present through her grandfather’s experience of D-Day and fighting in France.

 

To coincide with the 80^th anniversary of the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, BBC2 has screened a groundbreaking documentary series, D-Day: The Unheard Tapes (available on iPlayer). The series brings to life audio interviews with those who fought by using actors who resemble the speaker at the time of the war to lip-synch to the recordings.  The use of actors bridges the gap brought by time and gives a contemporary feel to the recordings, many of which have not previously been heard beyond the archives where the tapes are held. The series, accompanied by a new book – one of many focusing on D-Day to be released this month – highlights the way these events are passing from the testimony of living witnesses into cultural history. 

 

Both the programme and the accompanying book offer new insights, and show that there are new and different ways of approaching history both to make it meaningful to younger generations and to re-examine established narratives to draw out different aspects and understandings. This post focuses on some of the books currently available to readers in the Library’s reading rooms that have been published in recent years that bring a contemporary approach to the telling of social history.  Some of the books featured in this post bring to the fore different perspectives on the invasion, others consider how a younger generation can relate to these events, and some examine the social and political implications of the commemoration of war and of D-Day itself.       

 

The selection of books highlighted are among those that are held in print format and should currently be available to readers in the Library’s reading rooms.  Most are held at our St Pancras site whilst a couple are held at our site at Boston Spa in Yorkshire.  Some books held in Yorkshire are now available to readers, although those held in automated storage cannot yet be accessed following the cyber incident last year.  Just under half of our current intake of books published in the UK come to us in digital format, and access to these has not yet been restored, so they are also excluded from this selection of books.  An update on the restoration of services can be found on our Knowledge Matters blog.

 

And so to the books we can make available to readers...   Pictured above, Alicia DeFonzo’s The time left between us blends memoir, history and oral story-telling. DeFonzo, who lectures in English at Old Dominion University in Virginia, retraces her grandfather’s steps through France and Germany and weaves his account of his experiences in wartime Europe into her own memories to understand the relationship between past and present.  Her grandfather’s memories – passing from the Normandy landings to the liberation of concentration camps - become part of her own history.  Starting from the realisation that she knew almost nothing about this history and that her grandfather had not previously related these experiences – she arrives at an understanding that she has a part to play in safeguarding and transmitting memory.

 

D-Day minute by minute, by Jonathan Mayo. London : Short Books, 2014. YC.2015.a.763

 

A more straightforward, fast-paced, and highly accessible account of events is offered by Jonathan Mayo’s D-Day minute by minute, London: Short Books, 2014 (shelfmark YC.2015.a.763).  In just over 300 pages, Mayo’s book draws on a wide range of personal narratives to construct a detailed account of events as they were experienced not only by those who fought but by many people impacted by these crucial events, from French villagers and journalists, to schoolchildren and nurses.  Mayo’s book focuses not on military strategy but on the human experience of involvement in shaping the course of history.

 

 

Normandy '44 : D-Day and the battle for France: a new history, by James Holland, London : Bantam Press, 2019, YC.2020.a.1072

 

A similarly broad range of experiences is brought to the fore in James Holland’s Normandy ’44: D-Day and the battle for France.   Holland uses archival research and eyewitness testimonies from around the world to re-examine established narratives of the invasion, bringing out the human aspect of the conflict as well as differing perspectives, with accounts from civilians and resistance fighters as well as military personnel.

 

Forgotten: the untold story of D-Day's Black heroes, by Linda Hervieux. New York, HarperCollins, 2015. Shelfmark  m15/.11728

 

Blending social history, biography and an account of military events is Linda Hervieux’s book, Forgotten: the untold story of D-Day's Black heroes (New York: HarperCollins, 2015, Shelfmark  m15/.11728).  The book focuses on the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, a unit of African-American soldiers within the racially-segregated US forces involved in the assault on the beaches. Using military records and interviews with surviving members of the battalion and their families, Hervieux highlights the sense of freedom these men gained in Europe and in England in the lead-up to the invasion. The book notes the lack of recognition accorded to these men and the denial of military honours after the war. The disparity between their experiences in Europe and the segregation and injustice they faced at home was an important backdrop to the emergent civil rights movement.

 

A breath of freedom: the civil rights struggle, African American GIs, and Germany, by Maria Höhn and Martin Klimke, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. YC.2013.a.5132

 

This theme is shared by Maria Höhn and Martin Klimke’s book, A breath of freedom: the civil rights struggle, African American GIs, and Germany, which explores the social and historical impact of serving in Europe for African American servicemen and how this fed into activism within the civil rights movement.  Although not focused specifically on D-Day, it is one of a number of books to consider the wider social and political aspects of participation in the fight to bring to an end to the German occupation of Europe.  This is explored in a more recent work by Sandra Bolzenius, Glory in their spirit: how four black women took on the Army during World War II (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2018), shelfmark YD.2022.a.1758.  The book records a strike against discriminatory work assignments by four African American female privates serving in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) at Fort Devens, Massachusetts in 1945.  At the time, their well-publicised protest “pushed the army's segregation system to its breaking point”.

 

 

Woman at the front: memoirs of an ATS girl: D-Day to 1946, by Sylvia Wild, Stroud: Amberley 2012. YK.2013.a.3983

Returning to different perspectives and experiences of D-Day itself, is Sylvia Wild’s first-person account, published in 2012, of her service in the Auxiliary Territorial Service as a shorthand typist working for the Senior Royal Engineer officers developing the D-Day plans concerning ports, docks, harbours and railways as part of Operation Overlord.  Her service continued in France, where she lived in French households as transport services were reinstated in France, Belgium and Germany.  Her first-hand account could be read alongside the very different experiences of the 39 women who served in France within the Special Operations Executive working undercover to support the French Resistance. Their story is recounted in Kate Vigurs’ Mission France: the true history of the women of SOE, published in 2020 by Yale University Press, shelfmark YC.2022.a.4932.

 

 

 

Normandiefront: D-Day to Saint-Lô through German eyes, by Vince Milano and Bruce Conner. Stroud: Spellmount, 2012. Shelfmark YK.2013.a.1164)

 

A different perspective on the fighting, based on interviews with, and the testimony of, German combatants in 352 Division is offered by Normandiefront: D-Day to Saint-Lô through German eyes, by Vince Milano and Bruce Conner (Stroud: Spellmount, 2012, shelfmark YK.2013.a.1164).  Through the course of their work over many years, the authors collected German and Allied photographs and documents, many of which had not previously been published.  Although focused more on the course of the battle than on the feelings of those involved, the book gives an insight into a very different experience of how events unfolded.

 

 

 

D-Day UK: 100 locations in Britain, by Simon Forty, Swindon: Historic England, 2019, shelfmark YC.2020.b.320

 

The preparations for D-Day and the way that they involved a wide range of people from across the country is the focus of D-Day UK: 100 locations in Britain, by Simon Forty (Swindon: Historic England, 2019, shelfmark YC.2020.b.320). It is one of a number of books to consider the planning and information-gathering that was necessary before the invasion could be attempted.  This is also the focus of Bletchley Park and D-Day: the untold story of how the battle for Normandy was won, by David Kenyon, published in 2019. Using previously classified documents, David Kenyon shows how preparations for the Normandy landings in 1944 - the turning point in the war in Europe - began at Bletchley in 1942, with the careful collation of information extracted from enemy signals traffic.

 

 

Bletchley Park and D-Day: the untold story of how the battle for Normandy was won, David Kenyon, New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2019. YC.2020.a.1359

 

 

 

The cruel victory: the French Resistance, D-Day and the battle for the Vercors 1944, by Paddy Ashdown, London : William Collins, 2014, shelfmark YC.2015.a.14166

 

In a very different vein, Paddy Ashdown’s book about the French Resistance in the Vercors mountain range near Grenoble aims to tell a story overlooked by most English-language histories of D-Day. As Allied troops stormed the beaches in Normandy, the resistance in the Vercors rose up in a planned rearguard action that was brutally crushed when German reinforcements arrived. The book shows how the tragedy gave the Vercors a place in French history and gives voice to the many fighters who fought to gain a say in the future of their country.

 

 

Divided memory : French recollections of World War II from the Liberation to the present, Olivier Wieviorka, Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2012. Shelfmark YC.2013.a.312

 

Wieviorka's important book tackles the conflicting memories of all aspects of wartime France: the fall of France, Vichy, the Occupation, the deportations, the Resistance, trials and amnesties. Wieviorka examines the contested area of who should be honoured within French history in the wake of war and occupation.

 

 

D-Day in history and memory: the Normandy landings in international remembrance and commemoration. Edited by Michael Dolski, Sam Edwards, and John Buckley. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press, 2014, shelfmark YC.2015.a.5044

 

The politics of commemoration is the focus of a work bringing together a collection of essays on the complex and often conflicting memories of D-Day.   The work aims to deconstruct and counter the way D-Day has frequently been mythologised by bringing together multiple national viewpoints.

 

 

D-Day remembered : the Normandy landings in American collective memory, Dolski, Michael, 2016. YC.2017.a.7666.

 

Addressing similar themes, historian Michael Dolski’s book examines how understandings of the past are shaped by the present through consideration of how D-Day is remembered and commemorated by Americans. His study aims to expose and consider the cultural functions of war remembrance.  Drawing on a wider range of international examples of warfare, Commemorating war : the politics of memory, by T G Ashplant, Graham Dawson, and Michael Roper (New Brunswick, N.J.; London: Transaction 2004) is one of a growing number of academic works to explore war memory and the role of commemoration.  The latter book is available on the open shelves in the Social Sciences reading room at SPIS303.66 and can also be ordered to other reading rooms via shelfmark YC.2009.a.7918.

 

Because of the Library's IT outage, readers will have to wait a while before access is available to the new crop of books published to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, but as services are restored, anyone with an interest in delving deeper into this history will be able to access these works in the Library's reading rooms.

This post, written by Social Sciences Subject Librarian, Ben Hadley, describes printed resources relevant to social work that are available to readers in the Social Sciences Reading Room, as well as publications that can be ordered up from basement storage for use in the reading rooms.  The Library's digital collections are not currently available whilst systems are restored following the cyber attack in October 2023.   Information about the restoration of services can be found on the British Library Knowledge Matters blog, and details of opening hours and current services are on the Library's website.

 

Reference materials relevant to social work in the OPL section on the shelves in the Social Sciences Reading Room. 

 

Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change. Research themes encompass a range of interdisciplinary approaches including law, philosophy, politics, public policy, psychology and social anthropology. 

 

The recent cyber-attack has had a severe impact on our digital collections. Unfortunately we currently cannot provide access to abstracting databases and e-resources via our reading room PCs.  Similarly, we are not able to provide access to books and journals published in the UK or in Ireland that have been deposited with the Library in electronic format rather than in print.  This affects many British (and also Irish) books published since 2013 as roughly half of the Library's intake from these countries is received in digital format.

 

However, readers can still order journals and printed books to use in our study spaces, and social work dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference sources on related topics are available on the open shelves. Social work research demands a multi-disciplinary approach, and we can still provide access to a broad spectrum of topics from a wide range of subject areas. Our research monographs cover a wide field of subject disciplines and many are held in the Social Sciences Reading Room. 

 

Here are just a few examples of books are available to order and use in the reading rooms, that can be found in our catalogue: 

 

Social Policy for Social Work, Lorraine Green and Karen Clark 

Front cover of Social policy for social work, by Lorraine Green and Karen Clarke. Cambridge; Polity Press, 2016. British Library shelfmark YC.2016.b.604

 

This book examines the shifts in the dominant political ideology that have affected the nature of welfare provision and the balance of responsibilities between the family, the voluntary sector, the market and the state. It explains how these developments impact social workers and service users. 

It traces the origins of state welfare from the Elizabethan Poor Laws to the late 1800s. It then examines each stage of welfare provision from the post-war consensus through to the Coalition government 2010 – 2015.     British Library shelfmark YC.2016.b.604 

 

Mind, state and society: social history of psychiatry and mental health in Britain 1960 – 2010, edited by George Ikkos and Nick Bouras.

Cover image of Mind, state and society: social history of psychiatry and mental health in Britain 1960–2010, edited by George Ikkos and Nick Bouras. Cambridge University Press, 2021.  Shelfmark YC.2022.a.5666.

 

This book examines the reforms in psychiatry and mental health services in Britain. It features contributions from leading academics, policymakers, mental health clinicians, service users and carers. It offers a rich and integrated picture of mental health, covering experiences from children to older people; employment to homelessness; women to LGBTQ+; refugees to black and minority ethnic groups; and faith communities and the military. 

British Library shelfmark YC.2022.a.5666 

 

Child Welfare and Social Action in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Jon Lawrence and Pat Starkey.  Liverpool University Press, 2001

This collection of essays addresses child migration, ‘delinquency’, and the physical and psychological traumas of children in care. It offers an international perspective on these issues and each case study provides a thorough analysis within its historical context. Each of the themes introduced in this study can be explored in more detail in our collections. 

British Library shelfmark YC.2006.a.15461 

 

What is Social Work: Contexts and Perspectives, Nigel Horner. London; Learning Matters, 2012

This book is primarily aimed at social work students in their first year of study. It examines the major influences that shaped the welfare systems towards the end of the nineteenth century, including religious movements, philanthropy, social reform, labour movements and government policy. 

 

It presents an overview of child welfare policy and practice and introduces legal frameworks for working with children and families. It also examines the changing context of the profession in light of legislative changes from the 1908 Children Act which led to the introduction of juvenile courts, to the Children Act 2004 which affirmed a commitment to assuring high quality childcare for all.  

British Library shelfmark SPIS 361.30941 

 

In addition this book also introduces a professional capabilities framework that informs all social work practice. These themes can be explored further in studies held in the reading room under subject heading SPIS 361.01. A member of staff can help you to find these titles.  

 

Gender diversity, recognition and citizenship: towards a politics of difference, Sally Hines. Basingstoke; Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

 

Gender diversity, recognition and citizenship: towards a politics of difference, by Sally Hines. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. British Library shelfmark SPIS 306.768 

This book explores the significance of the UK Gender Recognition Act (GRA) and considers broader social, cultural, legal political shifts that have resulted. This book considers the politics of identity and how lived experience has been impacted by these changes. The GRA is also contextualised within human rights discourse and law.  

British Library shelfmark SPIS 306.768  

 

 

Social Policy, John Baldock.  Oxford University Press, 2012

Explores the history and development of social policy and provides a comprehensive introduction to this area of study. An understanding of these themes is essential to social work students and to those studying related disciplines. The glossary provides a list of terms that can help readers to focus and narrow their research themes. 

 

Some of the subject headings in this study include: social need and inequality, family and welfare, the voluntary sector, global social policy, health policy, housing, crime and punishment. 

British Library shelfmark SPIS 361.610941 

 

 

Here is a list of some of the key journals in social work: 

 

Social Policy and Society 

British Journal of Social Work 

Journal of Social Policy 

Journal of evidence based social work 

Journal of social work practice 

Social Policy and Administration 

 

Some of the articles from these journals are available for free on the web. Just type the journal title into Google and you should be able to find a full list of articles on the publisher’s website. Look for the Open Access symbol, this means that an article is free to access.  We can provide access to other articles from these journals if they have been published before October 2023, just note down the year and issue number that you need and bring this information to the Social Sciences issue desk.  You can also find some digitised journal articles via the Internet Archive's  Wayback Machine. 

 

The following titles are held on the open shelves in the SPIS journals collection: 

 

Professional Social Work 

Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society 

Social Theory and Health 

Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma 

Journal of Public Health Policy 

 

Here is a list of some of the topics associated with social work held within the SPIS books collection (there is a more comprehensive list in the reading room): 

 

Children 305.23  

Older people 305.26 

Courts 347.4201 

Social work 361.301  

Social action 361.2  

Social work research 362 

Mental health 362.2  

Disabled persons 362.4  

Children problems 362.7  

Criminology 364 

Drug abuse 362.29 

Counselling 361.06 

Delinquent and problem pupils 371.93  

 

In the OPL section you can find encylopedias and abstracts for related subjects and disciplines

Examples of reference sources on the open shelves in the Social Sciences Reading Room.  

 

 

Reference materials on the open shelves include the following titles: 

 

Social research methods OPL 300.72  

Encyclopedias, sociology dictionaries OPL 301.03  

(In this section you can also find encyclopedias in women’s studies, social psychology, adolescence, race and LGBTQ studies) 

Encyclopedias of social work OPL. 361.003  

Social work abstracts OPL 361.973  

Halsbury’s laws of England OPL 344.4209  

Introduction the law and the legal system OPL 345.0973  

Magistrates court guide 2024 OPL 345.38  

 

Finally, here are some websites and resources that may be useful to your research into social policy: 

 

The King’s Fund Library 

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/work-with-us/library#use-our-library-collections 

 

London School of Economics Library 

https://www.lse.ac.uk/library/using-the-library/library-resources-guide 

 

British Sociological Association 

https://www.britsoc.co.uk/media-centre/research-databases/ 

 

King’s College Library 

https://libguides.kcl.ac.uk/systematicreview/greylit 

 

The Knowledge Exchange 

https://theknowledgeexchangeblog.com 

 

The following organisations publish research papers, policy briefings and reports on their websites: 

 

National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) 

Joseph Rowntree Foundation 

Resolution foundation 

Reform 

The Children’s Commissioner 

Intergenerational Foundation 

International Longevity Centre (ILC-UK) 

 

This post, written by the Library's Content Lead for Official and Government Publications describes how readers can access official publications in the wake of the cyber-attack on the Library in October 2023.   Information about the restoration of services can be found on the British Library Knowledge Matters blog, and details of opening hours and current services are on the Library's website.

 

Following the cyber-attack on the British Library’s IT estate in October 2023, access to our official publications collections is limited, but will gradually improve.  At present, you can only consult print and microform materials that are either shelved in the Social Sciences Reading Room at St Pancras or in the St Pancras basements. In the reading room we have a selection of historic UK parliamentary and legal texts including:

Commons and Lords journals
The Official Report (Hansard) and Standing Committee Debates
Public General Acts, Local and Personal Acts and Private Acts
UK Statutory Instruments
House of Commons papers and bills on microfiche, 1801-2004/05
House of Commons Sessional Papers of the Eighteenth Century reprint edited by Sheila Lambert

 

Official publications on the open shelves in the Social Sciences Reading Room at St Pancras.

 

Basement 1 at St Pancras holds an eclectic mix of UK, US and United Nations publications in print which, in a leap back to the 20^th century, can be ordered on paper tickets:

Bound sets of Commons and Lords papers and bills from 1801-
United States Congressional Serial Set 1817/18-1979/90
Electoral registers, 2002-
United Nations documents 1946-2012

 

Official texts were historically catalogued and shelved in series, not at the individual document level. Fortunately hard copy indexes are still available in the reading room and these will enable you to record the correct citation in the series so that the library assistants can locate your chosen document on the shelf.

 

Hansard: the official record of parliamentary debates in the House of Commons.

 

The St Pancras basements also hold a treasure trove of official materials on microform which can be consulted in lieu of electronic sources, such as:

The depository collection of US federal government and Congressional papers, 1982- on microfiche arranged by Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) code
US Congressional hearings on microfiche
Historic electoral registers for England, 1832-1937 on microfilm
HMSO controller’s library on microfilm
Government publications relating to Kenya, 1897-1963 on microfilm
Annual departmental reports relating to Sierra Leone, 1893-1961 on microfilm

 

There are printed indexes to these sets in the reading room that will help you to find the correct document codes and reel numbers so that you can place orders. There is also a card index of official microforms available for consultation.

 

Now for the bad news. Apart from these print and microform sets, all other UK, foreign national government, and intergovernmental organisation (IGO) publications are two hundred miles away on our Boston Spa site in Yorkshire. UK departmental publications and electoral registers 1832-2001 in print are kept in an automated store and cannot be retrieved as yet, although restoring this service is a priority.  However the historic collections of foreign national government and IGO documents are in static stores, and we aim to restart delivery around the end of March. You can find their shelfmarks in the interim catalogue or in the printed copy of the British Museum Library catalogue in the Social Sciences reading room.

 

An example of the electoral registers available at the Library.

 

Our world class collection of subscribed electronic resources is inaccessible at the moment, including full-text document collections such as the US Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994, Congressional Record to 1997,  Congressional Hearings, 1823-1979, US Territorial Papers, the US Foreign Broadcast Information Service, UK Parliamentary Papers, UK State Papers Online 16^th-18^th centuries, and British Online Archives databases, but in many cases there are print or microform alternatives available.  Originals of digitised UK government archives are available at the National Archives, Kew.  Recent UK, IGO and foreign national government materials can of course be found freely available on the internet.  Large and influential IGOs such as the United Nations, the IMF and the World Bank now make their electronic libraries available free as a public good:

World Bank Open Knowledge Repository 
United Nations Official Document System  
IMF eLibrary 

 

You will find records for electronic UK, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland government documents acquired through non-print legal deposit before April 2023 in the interim catalogue, but there is no access to the documents themselves at present. We are aiming to restore view access in June or July this year, so watch this space. However, prior to the cyber incident we received feeds of records with hot links to freely available documents published by the European Union, the US federal government and the Irish Republic government. These links work and you can view the documents from within the catalogue.

 

Access to full text of Scottish government and Parliament documents is available from the National Library of Scotland catalogue (Library Search). Queen’s University Belfast hosts the Northern Ireland Official Publications Archive, a repository containing Northern Ireland government documents. For current UK government and Parliamentary documentation you can of course search Gov.UK and the UK Parliament website.

 

Navigating the Library’s historic print and microform collections of government and IGO documents is challenging because they were catalogued at the series level (print) or set level (microform). To trace the correct citation of a document within a series or microform set you need to consult a range of printed indexes. Please ask our friendly and efficient reference team for help. They can be contacted in person in the Social Sciences reading room or by email at [email protected]