Readers are essential tools for students, where vital extracts from key source materials, carefully chosen by historians in daily contact with student needs and course requirements, are pared to essentials, explained and placed into context. The introductions and explanatory materials are vital in giving the latest and state of the art' historiography, and providing ideas and summaries - so important for essay writing and examinations. Readers are therefore in wide use in universities in the both Britain and North America as combining the old strengths of individual detailed study guided by specialists with access to original materials, often scarce in contemporary colleges. Keith Laybourban and Christine Collette, established authors with extensive experience of teaching and modern student needs, have put together a carefully selected collection of materials culled from primary and secondary sources and covering the major themes of British history from Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair.
