Life Writings in Britain and America, 1650-1918.

This seminar will explore how and why men and women, free and unfree, coming from different social backgrounds and from both sides of the Atlantic, chose to write and deploy memoirs, diaries, autobiographies and biographies. How have such testimonies changed over time? Why did they become increasingly popular from the 17th century onwards, and why do they still remain popular. How far do such texts conceal as well as reveal? And what opportunities, insights and challenges do they present to historians now?