The Edinburgh History of the British and Irish Press, Volume 3

The Edinburgh History of the British and Irish Press, Volume 3 offers a definitive history of the British and Irish press from 1900 to 2017. It captures the cross-regional and transnational dimension of press history in twentieth-century Britain and Ireland, as well as at the start of the twenty-first century. The volume provides unique and important reassessments of British and Irish press and periodical media within social, cultural, technological, economic, and historical contexts.

The book includes a timeline of significant events for cross-reference, as well as an extensive bibliography for further research. At various points over the last 400 years, key political, economic, and social processes have worked to hinder or promote the expansion and dissemination of information across Britain and Ireland via newspapers and periodicals.

In a contemporary era characterised by debate on the limits of devolution and the potential of independence, we need to assess the roles played by newspapers and periodicals in enabling national and regional identities to emerge, cohere, and diversify over time. How can we best identify the most significant of these processes? What were the critical flashpoints in their development? How have they marked the place of the press in civic society? What are the consequences of considering these within the general history of the British and Irish press?

This volume, part of a three-volume series, addresses these matters by offering a definitive account of newspaper and periodical press activity across Britain and Ireland between 1900 and 2017. It addresses questions related to four key research interests: general social/political history, newspaper and periodical history, cultural history, and technological history. A further aim is to situate such discussions within the larger framework of communication and media history.