Folklore
A Journey Through the Past and Present
Ceri Houlbrook author Owen Davies author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Manchester University Press
Publishing:23rd Sep '25
£20.00
This title is due to be published on 23rd September, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A gripping guide to the weird yet everyday world of British folklore.
In this ground-breaking book, two leading experts provide the definitive guide to British folklore past and present.
Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook explore folklore in all its remarkable variations, from village rituals and fairy tales to UFO legends and internet fanfiction. Travelling through a landscape of witches, wizards and wicker men, they reveal how folklore has been researched and written about in the past and show how it continues to be lived in the present. At the same time, they provide the reader with a valuable toolkit for understanding how to interpret the diverse examples given.
The book’s key message is that folklore is much more than the fossilised remains of a distant, rural past. Folklore is and always has been ubiquitous, dynamic and political. It is a living tradition that draws from many sources, including migrant communities, and is forever being renewed and updated.
'This book draws a cultural map of who we are, where we’ve come from and how we think and feel about our surroundings. Meticulously researched, imaginative in scope and rich in strange stories and rewarding insights. Fascinating reading.'
Malcolm Gaskill, author of The Ruin of All Witches
'The best overall view of the subject currently available, written by its most dynamic partnership of scholars. It not only covers the traditional remit of folklore but extends it into many less conventional areas, right up to the present moment.'
Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present
‘Folklore is a hidden superpower in every part of our land and our culture. The stories we tell let us know who, where and what we are, and here they can be found in their richness and complexity. I learned from every page.’
Diane Purkiss, author of English Food: A Social History of England Told through the Food on Its Tables
ISBN: 9781526180384
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
368 pages