The Oxford Handbook of Public History

Public history is a large and complex field, with boundaries, methods, and subjects that are hotly debated. This handbook reflects the complexities of the subject, while at the same time helping to shape it. It introduces the major debates within public history; the methods and sources that comprise a public historian’s toolkit; and exemplary examples of practice. The book views public history as a dynamic process combining the hands-on skills of historical research and a wide range of work with and for the public, informed by a conceptual context. It defines public history work as analytical and active—practical work informed by thoughtful reflection—and locates public history as a professional practice within an intellectual framework that is increasingly democratic, technological, and transnational. While the nation state remains the primary means of identification for many, increased mobility and the digital revolution have occasioned a much broader outlook and awareness of the world beyond the local, shaping not only our lives today but also our understanding of the past. This volume will provide the information and inspiration needed by a practitioner to succeed in the wide range of workplaces that characterize public history today, for university teachers of public history to assist their students, and for working public historians to keep up to date with recent research.