This interdisciplinary collection is concerned with important theoretical and methodological issues facing women's studies. Drawing on feminist theory and politics it addresses a range of questions raised for women's studies by work conducted in history, literature, politics and sociology. The editors provide a context for these debates in their introductory essay which gives an overview of the development of women's studies and reflects on its current position. In their concluding chapter they also suggest a framework from which women's studies might move forward.

This wide-ranging and accessible book examines the effects of British imperial involvements on history writing in Britain since 1750. It provides a chronological account of the development of history writing in its social, political, and cultural contexts, and an analysis of the structural links between those involvements and the dominant concerns of that writing. The author looks at the impact of imperial and global expansion on the treatment of government, of social structures and changes and of national and ethnic identity in scholarly and popular works, in school histories, and in 'famous' history books. In a clear and student-friendly way, the book argues that involvement in empire played a transformative and central role within history writing as whole, reframing its basic assumptions and language, and sustaining a significant 'imperial' influence across generations of writers and diverse types of historical text. -- .