Names and History: People, Places and Things - Softcover

"Names and History takes the reader well beyond etymologies by placing a variety of names in their chronological and historical contexts ... A readable explanatory text" Northern History "A rewarding one to read."--Your Family Tree "A rewarding one to read."--, "A rewarding one to read."--Sanford Lakoff "A rewarding one to read." ."..fascinating compendium of research into British names..."--Sanford Lakoff "The Guardian "

How names were acquired, and how they have changed, is a subject of perennial fascination. They are part of our personal histories, defining who we are and where we live. Names are everywhere, identifying people, places, animals, ships, materials, plants, public houses and fields. To understand them we need to look beyond etymologies, examining names instead in their historic and chronological contexts. The investigations in Names and History all involve fascinating detective stories into the connections between names and related subjects - archaeology and the landscape; genealogy, genetics and family networks; dialects and social customs; industrial and farming practices. In them George Redmonds, a leading historian of names, widens the whole range of name studies and draws readers into the enquiry. Names will never seem the same again.