One of the most striking features of the demography of twentieth century Britain and its constituent countries has been the persistence of rates of population growth far lower than those of the nineteenth century. By the 1980s even the absolute size of the population had begun to decline. Why has this happened? And why have falling rates of population growth been accompanied by equally dramatic changes in the geography of human residence? In an attempt to answer these questions, the book traces the evolution of trends in levels of fertility, mortality and migration and considers the nature of the forces responsible for these trends.

This book brings together in one volume the four studies on British population history already published in the series New Studies in Economic and Social History, and adds to them a new essay on British population in the twentieth century. Between them, the authors survey the trends and debates in British population history from 1348 to 1991. Research over the past twenty-five years has transformed our understanding of how population has grown and declined, of why the numbers of births, deaths, marriages and migrants have risen and fallen, and thrown much new light on the economic and social impact of these changes. The studies in this book supply introductions to these problems for readers who are not themselves demographers but who, as students, teachers, or non-specialist historians and social scientists, want to know more about what happened and what are the main topics of current debate. Full bibliographies for further study are included.

This new edition extends and brings up to date the story of political, economic, and social change among the British. An entirely new chapter covers the Thatcher years, discussing such events as the Falkland Island crisis and the General Election of 1983. Other sections have been revised to reflect information only recently available. Throughout, Havighurst has incorporated material from official documents, monographs, biographies, articles, and the press. His fascinating narrative fully captures the ongoing importance of change itself in shaping the character of Britain.

Standard English has evolved and developed in many ways over the past hundred years. From pronunciation to vocabulary to grammar, this concise survey clearly documents the recent history of Standard English. Drawing on large amounts of authentic corpus data, it shows how we can track ongoing changes to the language, and demonstrates each of the major developments that have taken place. As well as taking insights from a vast body of literature, Christian Mair presents the results of his own cutting-edge research, revealing some important changes which have not been previously documented. He concludes by exploring how social and cultural factors, such as the American influence on British English, have affected Standard English in recent times. Authoritative, informative and engaging, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in language change in progress, particularly those working on English, and will be welcomed by students, researchers and language teachers alike.

This book explores the overlooked history of racial mixing in Britain during the course of the twentieth century, a period in which there was considerable and influential public debate on the meanings and implications of intimately crossing racial boundaries. Based on research that formed the foundations of the British television series Mixed Britannia, the authors draw on a range of firsthand accounts and archival material to compare ‘official’ accounts of racial mixing and mixedness with those told by mixed race people, couples and families themselves. Mixed Race Britain in The Twentieth Century shows that alongside the more familiarly recognised experiences of social bigotry and racial prejudice there can also be glimpsed constant threads of tolerance, acceptance, inclusion and ‘ordinariness’. It presents a more complex and multifaceted history of mixed race Britain than is typically assumed, one that adds to the growing picture of the longstanding diversity and difference that is, and always has been, an ordinary and everyday feature of British life.

This timely history explores the entry, reception and resettlement of refugees across twentieth-century Britain. Focusing on four cohorts of refugees – Jewish and other refugees from Nazism; Hungarians in 1956; Ugandan Asians expelled by Idi Amin; and Vietnamese 'boat people' who arrived in the wake of the fall of Saigon – Becky Taylor deftly integrates refugee history with key themes in the history of modern Britain. She thus demonstrates how refugees' experiences, rather than being marginal, were emblematic of some of the principal developments in British society. Arguing that Britain's reception of refugees was rarely motivated by humanitarianism, this book reveals the role of Britain's international preoccupations, anxieties and sense of identity; and how refugees' reception was shaped by voluntary efforts and the changing nature of the welfare state. Based on rich archival sources, this study offers a compelling new perspective on changing ideas of Britishness and the place of 'outsiders' in modern Britain.

This reader on the history of demography and historical perspectives on "population" in the twentieth century features a unique collection of primary sources from around the globe, written by scholars, politicians, journalists, and activists. Many of the sources are available in English for the first time. Background information is provided on each source. Together, the sources mirror the circumstances under which scientific knowledge about "population" was produced, how demography evolved as a discipline, and how demographic developments were interpreted and discussed in different political and cultural settings. Readers thereby gain insight into the historical precedents on debates on race, migration, reproduction, natural resources, development and urbanization, the role of statistics in the making of the nation state, and family structures and gender roles, among others. The reader is designed for undergraduate and graduate students as well as scholars in the fields of demography and population studies as well as to anyone interested in the history of science and knowledge.