Research Interests

My work explores central aspects of English social and cultural history from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. My book The settlement of the poor in England c. 1660-1780: law, society, and state formation will be published by Cambridge University Press in December 2025. It studies the formation and repercussions of a welfare system based on strict notions of parish belonging. My book The social universe of the English Bible: scripture, society, and culture in early modern England (Cambridge, 2010) explains how concepts of social description were coined in English Biblical translations and explores their broader intellectual and social resonances in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. My first monograph, Family and friends in eighteenth-century England: household, kinship, and patronage (Cambridge, 2001) investigates changing conceptions of kinship, family, and social networks. I co-edited a book on The practice and representation of reading in England (Cambridge, 1996), and a special issue of Continuity and Change dedicated to the history of kinship in Britain from 500 to 2000. I am also interested in modern European Jewish history.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and was elected to serve on its Council (2012-2016). In 2019, I was elected as Chair of the international UK based Social History Society. I chair the Editorial Board of Cultural and Social History and serve on the Stratetic and Peer Review Colleges of AHRC.

I have taught and researched at the universities of Lancaster, Sussex, Cambridge, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and held Fellowships in the UK, USA, and Israel.

Research Overview

My broad and interdisciplinary research interests include British social and cultural Hisory and modern Jewish history.

PhD Supervision Interests

I have broad research interests and will be delighted to discuss possible doctoral work with students interested in British History c. 1500-1800.