Wherever you are in the world and whatever you’re interested in, our ‘Books of the Month’ features a broad sample of recent releases authored by University of Liverpool staff. From architecture to business, photography to tourism, there’s something for everyone.
The University of Liverpool Library has curated a reading list for Books of the Month which is available and searchable for staff and students. The newest titles are added at the top of the list for visibility, and further information can be found in the notes area.
If you are a member of University staff and would like your new or recent (2024, 2025 & 2026) publication to be featured, please email the details to the Research Communications Team at rescomms@liverpool.ac.uk.
********
The Language of Early English Dialect Literature
Author: Alex Broadhead
Published: 2026
This is the first book ever published to focus exclusively on early English dialect literature. By dialect, I mean a collection of words, grammatical forms and pronunciations that is generally associated with how people talk in a specific town, county or area. By dialect literature I mean texts written largely in non-standard English, one of whose primary aims is to show how people talk in particular places. By early I mean the period in which early forms of these texts first appeared in print and rose to prominence, beginning in the sixteenth century and ending to the mid-Victorian era. And by English I mean texts that represent the dialects of any and all areas that lie between Cumbria in the north-west, Newcastle in the north-east, Cornwall in the south-west and Kent in the south-east.
Over the course of six chapters, the author employs frameworks from stylistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics and other cognate fields to reveal the rich and varied forms that linguistic creativity takes in dialect literature. Challenging the traditional view of the mode as backwards-looking and conventional, this book makes a case for its stylistic ambitiousness and complexity. It covers a crucial phase in the history of dialect literature, from the sporadic early attempts of song-writers and pastoralists, to the heyday of the Victorian era, when regional writing flourished in almost every county of England.
Dr Alex Broadhead is Senior Lecturer in English Language and Literature, in the School of the Arts, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Liverpool.
********
Authors: Dr. Fei Chen, Andre Brown, Dr. Yiping Dong
Published: 2026
The Architecture of Suzhou provides a thorough exploration of Suzhou’s architecture and urban development through a detailed survey of key historical remains and contemporary creations in the city including houses, gardens, public buildings, bridges, streets and other structures. The book reveals how Suzhou’s unique architectural and urban qualities continue to influence contemporary practice, maintaining the so-called “Suzhou Style”, and representing a remarkable process of identity-building. It positions Suzhou within the context of China’s rapid growth since the 1980s, where the city tells a compelling narrative of the urban relationship between the millennia-old cultural heritage and the booming modern economy.
The early part of the book charts the old city’s growth over centuries. It then examines significant transformations through the late 20th century, followed by the subsequent 30 years of industrial and economic boom. It also investigates the surrounding water towns and villages, which showcase fascinating adaptations to the natural conditions.
This book serves as a companion to understanding how the city balances modernisation, environmental constraints and the preservation of cultural heritage. It also alludes to a promising future for Suzhou, with its current focus on higher education, research, creative industries, and new technologies, alongside a long-standing appreciation and reverence for local traditions, culture, and the environment.
Dr Fei Chen is Reader in Architecture and Urban Design, Architecture,
School of the Arts, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Liverpool.
********
Designed for Play: Children’s Playgrounds and the Politics of Urban Space, 1840–2010
Author: Jon Winder
Published: 2024
Children’s playgrounds are commonly understood as the obvious place for children to play: safe, natural and out of the way. But these expectations hide a convoluted and overlooked history of children’s place in public space – one shaped by implicit social, political and environmental values, and by government intervention in spaces and lives across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This book is the first empirically grounded historical account of the modern playground, drawing on the archival materials of social reformers, park superintendents, equipment manufacturers and architects in Britain and beyond to chart the playground’s journey from marginal obscurity to popular ubiquity. In exploring the evolution of play space design, the book shows that the ideal playground has long represented a space where changing conceptions of nature, health, childhood, commerce and technology have all been played out. It covers the development of garden gymnasiums in the 1890s, the influence of Charles Wicksteed, increasing standardisation in the interwar period, the impact of progressive education, pioneering female designers and the adventure playground movement in the twentieth century, and more recent challenges to the playground’s status as a site of health, nature and safety.
Designed for Play is an original and accessible contribution to modern British history, urban and environmental history, and histories and geographies of childhood.
Published open access with funding pledged by institutional libraries through the Jisc Open Access Community Framework: https://uolpress.co.uk/about-us/projects-and-initiatives/
Dr Jon Winder is a Postdoctoral Research Associate, at the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Liverpool.