In August, the Society publishes the next title in its New Historical Perspective book series: Waterscapes: Reservoirs, Environment and Identity in Modern England and Wales, by Andrew McTominey.
A study of reservoir planning and construction, Waterscapes is an important and novel contribution to environmental and urban history, and histories of the English and Welsh countryside.
The building of reservoirs in England and Wales was key to urban growth across the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, with the management of waterworks projects closely tied to the social and economic fortunes of rural areas, as well as the treatment of urban populations.
Drawing on methods from environmental history, cultural history and historical geography, this book explores the multiple and long-term impacts of reservoir construction and management in rural England and Wales. It examines how reservoirs transformed the rural environment, the management of the urban-rural hinterland, the development of cultural landscapes, the expansion of novel leisure activities, and the social impact on local communities.
Incorporating case studies from Leeds’s Washburn Valley, Liverpool’s Vyrnwy Reservoir and Birmingham’s Elan Reservoir, among others, Waterscapes‘ comparative approach highlights commonalities and differences in waterworks management across the country. It transforms our understanding of the national water industry, contemporary attitudes to the environment, and the identities – civic, gender and professional – that were intertwined with these waterscapes.
NHP titles, published and forthcoming, in 2025
- Voice, Silence and Gender in South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Struggle. The Shadow of a Young Woman, by Rachel E. Johnson (March 2025)
- Reading, Gender and Identity in Seventeenth-Century England, by Hannah Jeans (April 2025)
- Atlantic Isles: Travel and Identity in the British and Irish West, 1880–1940, by Gareth Roddy (October 2025)
- Forging Fraternity in Late Medieval Society. The Palmers’ Guild of Ludlow, by Rachael Harkes (November 2025)
Andrew McTominey’s Waterscapes is the 23rd title in the Society’s New Historical Perspective book series for early career historians. As for all titles in the series, Waterscapes is published Open Access online, and free to access by all, as well as in paperback print.