Miniatures

<p>This book is the first of its kind to present readers with the rich and innovative source base deployed by scholars studying everyday life in the modern era. Twenty-eight researchers from diverse intellectual and disciplinary standpoints each present a favourite primary source for studying the history of everyday life accompanied by a reflective commentary on the benefits challenges and potential pitfalls of using their chosen material.</p> <p>The sources included range from ego documents (diaries memoirs letters) oral testimonies ethnographic fieldnotes newspapers magazines and official documents to photographs film maps floor plans drawings material objects and instant messages. They cover topics and themes as varied as individual mentalities emotions identities sense of place sexuality and agency; experiences of space violence war childhood humour the body and the senses; and the history of nationalism diplomacy political activism youth culture tourism memory dictatorship colonialism and race and racism.</p> <p>This book demonstrates not only the texture and fascination of people's everyday lives but also what a critical reading of this microscale can reveal about the broader sweep of history. It will be an invaluable resource for researchers and students alike interested in everyday life in micro- and local-scales of analysis and in the study of history and society 'from below'.</p>