Department of History

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Colin Heywood

Emeritus Professor of Modern French History,

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Teaching Summary

I am fortunate in being able to deploy my research interests in teaching, notably in the fields of nineteenth-century French history and the History of Childhood. In the first year most of my time is… read more

Selected Publications

  • 2018. A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times Second. Polity.
  • COLIN HEYWOOD, 2018. Childhood in Modern Europe First. Cambridge University Press.
  • 2010. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Age of Empire: Vol. 5 In the Age of Empire First. Berg.
  • 2010. Centuries of Childhood: An Anniversary -- and an Epitaph? Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. 3(3), 343-65

I am fortunate in being able to deploy my research interests in teaching, notably in the fields of nineteenth-century French history and the History of Childhood. In the first year most of my time is devoted to the two Learning History modules, designed to help students make the transition from school or college to university. In the second and third years, I convene modules focusing on the revolutionary period in French history, from 1789 to 1871, and the 'Belle Epoque' of 1880 to 1914. I also run a Special Subject on the history of childhood and children in nineteenth-century Britain. I run a module for the MA programme on childhood and children in modern Britain. Dissertation here have included studies of young women alpinists, representations of black soldiers in the British army and children in the workhouse.

Past Research

My most important contributions to historical research so far come in the study of childhood. When I began in the late Childhood in Nineteenth-Century France1970s historians still largely ignored the area. Since then it has taken off in various countries, in line with the general trend to investigate groups marginalized by traditional historiography such as women, the unemployed and immigrants. My first project in this field was a study of child labour, apprenticeship and education in nineteenth-century France (1988).

I consolidated my position in the field with a book on the history of childhood in Europe and North America from the medieval to the modern period (2001). Here I considered ideas on childhood down the ages, examined children through their various stages of life, and looked at their work, health and education. This work has been translated into a number of foreign languages.

A History of ChildhoodI have also recently completed a monograph, Growing Up in Modern France (2007), based on letters, diaries and above all autobiographical material. In this I analyse topics such as the social constructions of childhood and adolescence in modern France, the phases of growing up, relations with parents and peers, schooling and sexuality.

Besides childhood, I have pursued researches into the economic, social, cultural and political life The Development of the French Economy 1750-1914of the French town of Troyes during the nineteenth century. In the late 1980s and 1990s I extended and up-dated earlier researches, with many archive visits to the town and to Paris. Since then I have spent time constructing a database of households in the town, and started to publish my findings in learned journals. Expertise gathered on this project has led to various general surveys of French and European economic and social history in influential series.

  • 2019. Child Readers and their Books in Nineteenth-Century Britain. In: Industrialisation and Working People: Cromford and Beyond in the Era of the Industrial Revolution First. Arkwright Society. 79-96
  • COLIN HEYWOOD, 2018. Childhood in Modern Europe First. Cambridge University Press.
  • 2018. A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times Second. Polity.
  • 2013. The Child and the Home: A Historical Survey Home Cultures. 10, 227-44
  • 2011. Child Labour and Child Labour Reform in Nineteenth-Century France: An International Perspective. In: Child Labour's Global Past, 1650-2000 First. Peter Lang. 137-58
  • 2010. Centuries of Childhood: An Anniversary -- and an Epitaph? Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. 3(3), 343-65
  • 2010. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Age of Empire: Vol. 5 In the Age of Empire First. Berg.
  • 2009. France: A Historical Overview. In: The World of Child Labor: An Historical and Regional Survey First. Myron E. Sharpe. 610-14
  • 2009. A Brief Historiography of Child Labor. In: The World of Child Labor: An Historical and Regional Survey First. Myron E. Sharpe. 18-25
  • HEYWOOD, C., 2007. Growing up in France: from the Ancien Régime to the Third Republic Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • HEYWOOD, COLIN, 2007. Rethinking Parent-Child Relations in Modern France. In: FINDLAY, R. AND SALBAYRE, ., ed., Stories for Children, Histories of Childhood Tome I - Civilisation. Tours: Presses Universitaires Francois Rabelais. 97-113
  • HEYWOOD, C., 2004. Learning democracy in France: popular politics in Troyes, c. 1830-1900 Historical Journal. 47(4), 921-939
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 2002. Children and European Industrialisation. In: History of Childhood London: MacMillan.
  • HEYWOOD, C., 2001. A history of childhood: children and childhood in the West from medieval to modern times Cambridge: Polity.
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 2001. Child Labour. In: Encyclopaedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000 New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 175-91
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 2001. Child Rearing and Childhood. In: Encyclopaedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000 New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 513-24
  • HEYWOOD, C., 2000. Society. In: BLANNING, T.C.W., ed., The Nineteenth Century: Europe 1789-1914 Oxford: Oxford University Press. 47-77
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1999. Society and People in the Nineteenth Century. In: ALEXANDER, M.S., ed., French History since Napoleon London: Hodder Arnold. 80-105
  • HEYWOOD, C., 1999. Age and Gender in the Workplace: the Historical Experiences of Young People in Western Europe and North America. In: WALSH, M., ed., Working Out Gender: Perspectives from Labour History Aldershot & London: Ashgate. 48-65
  • HEYWOOD, C., 1998. Mobilizing the Workers in Fin-de-siecle France: The Parti Ouvrier in Troyes French History. 12(2), 172-194
  • HEYWOOD,C.M., 1997. La Bonneterie troyenne de 1860 à 1914: une étude de cas dans l'industrialisation français La Vie en Champagne: Vues d'enfance. 9, 12-25
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1997. La Fin du "vice anglais"? Vues d'enfance. 10, 18-22
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1996. Agriculture and Industrialization in France, 1870-1914. In: MATHIAS, P. and DAVIS, J.A., eds., Agriculture and Industrialization: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day Oxford: Blackwell. 109-28
  • HEYWOOD, C. and , 1995. The development of the French economy, 1750-1914 / prepared for the Economic History Society by Colin Heywood Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1995. The Growth of Population. In: PILBEAM, P.M., ed., Themes in Modern European History, 1780-1830 London: Routledge. 177-203
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1995. The Challenge of Industrialization. In: PILBEAM, P.M., ed., Themes in Modern European History 1780-1830 London: Routledge. 151-76
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1994. Cotton Hosiery in Troyes, c. 1860-1914: A Case Study in French Industrialisation Textile History. 25, 167-184
  • HEYWOOD, C.M. and HEYWOOD, O.E., 1994. Rethinking the 1848 Revolution in France: The Provisional Government and its Enemies History. 79, 394-411
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1991. On Learning Gender Roles during Childhood in Nineteenth-Century France French History. 5, 451-66
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1991. The Catholic Church and the Business Community in Nineteenth-Century France. In: TALLETT, F. and ATKIN, N., eds., Religion, Society and Politics in France Since 1789 London: Hambledon Continuum. 67-88
  • HEYWOOD, C.M., 1990. The Revolutionary Tradition in Troyes, 1789-1848 Journal of Historical Geography. 16, 108-20
  • HEYWOOD,C.M., 1989. The Catholic Church and the Formation of the Industrial Labour Force in Nineteenth-Century France: An Interpretative Essay European History Quarterly. 19, 509-33
  • HEYWOOD, COLIN, 1988. Childhood in nineteenth-century France : work, health and education among the 'classes populaires' / Colin Heywood Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1988.
  • HEYWOOD, C, Innocence and experience: Sexuality among young people in modern France, c.1750-1950 French History. 21(1), (In Press.)
  • HEYWOOD, C, Innocence and experience: Sexuality among young people in modern France, c.1750-1950 French History. 21(1), (In Press.)
  • HEYWOOD, C, Innocence and Experience: Sexuality among young people in modern France, c.1750-1950 French History. 21(1), (In Press.)

Department of History

University of Nottingham
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Nottingham, NG7 2RD

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