U3A Swindon British Social History Group

September 2019: The Group has been Wound Up.




Swindon U3A British Social History Group -- Recommendations


There are no textbooks for group members to buy or borrow. However group members may wish to do some extra studying, via books, radio, TV or websites, and the following are some recommendations (your Group Organiser's, not official U3A recommendations):


Web Sites


Early Modern History. A series of lectures from Yale University, posted on YouTube. No registration or anything; if you don't like American accents, don't worry, as the lecturer is a Brit. Opens in new Window.


Dictionary of Victorian London. A website with an extensive set of extracts from books and other items on assorted aspects of life in Victorian London.


Medievalists. And a similar site covering Early Modern England


London Labour and the London Poor. A series of description of lower-class London life by the Victorian writer Henry Mayhew. For dipping into rather than reading straight off.


John Major on Music Hall. Ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major's father was a Music-Hall performer, so unsurpisingly has become an authority on the history of Music Hall. On this website he is interviewed by actor Dominic West.