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A Practical Guide to Studying History (second edition) will support you in developing the skills to read historical writing critically, write good essays, and participate in historical debates. Using case studies from different periods and parts of the world, the book helps students to understand History, and to practice it successfully.
On this website, you will find materials to support History students and tutors. These include activity guides, model primary source analyses, annotated bibliographies, interviews with historians, chapters from the first edition of A Practical Guide, and contributor profiles.
There are a good range of books introducing students to what is involved in the study of history. This volume belongs to the top drawer of what is on offer. Tracey Loughran, herself one of the leading cultural historians of her generation, has assembled a wonderful panoply of articles and authors who are all very much on top of their game.
Stefan Berger, Professor of History, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
A Practical Guide to Studying History is an essential toolkit for History students stepping into higher education for the first time and should remain a comforting companion throughout their university careers. It will help students understand what they are doing and why they are doing it. The book’s diverse chapters make challenging concepts accessible and outline valuable real-world examples of what a History degree can give to its graduates, their fellow citizens, and the common weal. More than that, it is a resounding call to arms in defence of the historical profession, delivering a rigorous, reasoned, and confident manifesto for the future of History in universities.
Stephen Bowman, University of Stirling, UK
A Practical Guide to Studying History (2e) is a superb book that should be read by every history student. The depth of material covered is extremely impressive, offering expert insight and guidance to every step in a history student’s progress. It ranges from how to deal with the transition to university to how to pick your modules to how historians approach their craft and deal with sources in a digital age to the place of history in the wider world. It also helps parents, as well as students, understand the extraordinary value of a history degree. Tracey Loughran has put together an impressive team, linked together by her own reflections on the historical profession and her experiences of being a history student and an eminent practitioner of the discipline. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Ultán Gillen, Teesside University, UK
This is the book I’ve been waiting for: a lively, engaging, sophisticated guide to the pleasures and perils of historical work.
Matt Cook, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
A Practical Guide to Studying History is a terrific addition to the many books aimed at undergraduate historians. Highly recommended.
Max Jones, University of Manchester, UK
A Practical Guide to Studying History should be read by every student embarking on a history degree.
Ultán Gillen, Teesside University, UK
