Suggested reading on local history
We recommend you read the following books to find out about local history and Sussex in particular.
Click on the title to find out which libraries have the book and reserve a copy online. You can ask for it to be delivered to your local library.
'Discovering local history'
British history
Title: Handbook of dates for students of British history
Author: Cheney, C R
Publication date: 2000 – 2nd edition
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052177845X
Description: Use these tables to calculate the dates and days on which historical events have fallen or will fall, from AD 500 to 2100.
Previous editions
Title: The what it cost the day before yesterday book
Author: Priestley, H
Publication date: 1979
Publisher: K. Mason
ISBN: 0859370828
Description: Retail prices and statistics in Great Britain from 1851 to 1977.
Title: Agricultural records, AD220–1977
Author: Stratton, John M
Publication date: 1978 – 2nd edition
Publisher: J. Baker
ISBN: 0212970224
Description: Chronology of agricultural industries and weather in Great Britain from 220 to 1977.
Local history
Title: Discovering local history
Author: David Iredale and John Barrett
Publication date: 2003 – 2nd edition
Publisher: Shire Publications
ISBN: 0747805628
Description: Describes many different sources of local history, including books, local records, archives, newspapers and more.
Title: Starting out in local history
Author: Simon Fowler
Publication date: 2001
Publisher: Countryside Books
ISBN: 1853066869
Description: Encourages readers to get out and about to discover what lies behind the buildings and landscapes that surround them, suggesting what to look out for, questions to ask and themes to pursue.
Title: The local historian’s encyclopedia
Author: Richardson, J
Publication date: 2003 – 3rd edition
Publisher: Historical Publications
ISBN: 0948667834
Description: Offers advice and resources to others researching local history in England. Includes definitions of terms, explanations of institutions and documents, and timelines.
Sussex history
Title: A history of Sussex
Author: J R Armstrong
Publication date: 1995 – 4th edition
Publisher: Phillimore
ISBN: 0850339464
Description: Concise and comprehensive history of Sussex from the earliest times to the present day.
Previous editions
Title: An historical atlas of Sussex
Author: K Leslie
Publication date: 1999
Publisher: Phillimore
ISBN: 1860771122
Description: Maps of many aspects of Sussex from prehistory to the present day.
Title: Victoria History of Sussex (9 volumes)
Publication date: 1905–
Description: Local , economic and social history of Sussex. First two volumes deal with Sussex in general, and other volumes with specific geographical areas, including Lewes (volume 7) and Hastings (volume 9).
Title: History, antiquities and topography of the County of Sussex (2 volumes)
Author: T W Horsfield
Publication date: 1835, reprinted 1974
Publisher: Kohler & Coombes
ISBN: 0903967200
Description: Earliest detailed comprehensive history of Sussex, including notes on climate, lists of MPs, and statistics.
Title: The place names of Sussex (2 volumes)
Author: A Mawer
Publication date: 1929, reprinted 1969
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521075041
Description: Places arranged by rape, hundred, and parishes, with a useful index for locating obscure hamlets.
Title: Sussex data
Author: Alan Stephens
Publication date: 1988
Publisher: Manpower Services Commission
Description: Parish population tables 1801–1981, and detailed agricultural and meteorological information.
Title: Sussex: environment, landscape and society
Author: University of Sussex Geographical Editorial Committee
Publication date: 1983
Publisher: Alan Sutton
ISBN: 0862990459
Description: Series of essays about the geography of Sussex.
Title: British regional geology: the Wealden district
Author: F H Edmunds
Publication date: 1965 – 4th edition
Publisher: HMSO
ISBN: 0118840789
Description: Introduction to the geology of the Wealden area of Sussex, with maps, diagrams, drawings and photographs.
Title: The Sussex landscape
Author: Peter F Brandon
Publication date: 1974
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 0340165170
Description: Describes the marks people have made on the Sussex environment, including the archaeology of the prehistoric flint-axe industry and lime and iron industries.
Title: Domesday book, Sussex
Author: John Morris
Publication date: 1976
Publisher: Phillimore
ISBN: 0850331455
Description: Latin and English parallel text, translating the Domesday Book covering land tenure in Sussex in 1086.
Title: A dictionary of the Sussex dialect
Author: W D Parish
Publication date: 1967
Publisher: Country Books
ISBN: 1898941688
Description: Dictionary of the Sussex dialect, and local sayings, crafts, and names.
Title: Sussex
Author: Ian Nairn and Nikolaus Pevsner
Publication date: 1965
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0140710280
Description: Architecture in Sussex, including castles, churches, timber-framed house and modern twentieth-century buildings.
Title: The windmills of Sussex
Author: Martin Brunnarius
Publication date: 1979
Publisher: Phillimore
ISBN: 0850333458
Description: Describes windmills in East and West Sussex.
