Online Reviews
This online reviews section will be updated each quarter, to coincide with the appearance of the journal, and a list of books reviewed will be printed in each issue.
Hugo Javier Freitas
Laura Yeoman
Why BALH?
Where did your ancestors live?
It is impossible to trace the history of one’s family without considering where they lived. Local history societies and one-place study groups have researched and published content that will allow you to place the lives of your ancestors in the context of their local communities, villages, towns and cities as well as some of the key socio-economic factors that lay behind their development. They often use the same sources as family historians, and can help provide an alternative interpretation of a document or suggest new resources to help your research.
Nick Barratt, Historian and Author
Meet the team
Jack Southern
Jack has a deep interest in the relationship between people, places, and local history, shaped by his upbringing on the Fylde coast. He studied local and regional history at Lancaster University before teaching in Hong Kong, later returning to complete postgraduate research at the University of Central Lancashire, focusing on communities and industrial decline in Lancastrian cotton towns. He collaborates with local history groups, artists, and the Lancashire Local History Federation to explore new ways of communicating history. Now a Public History and Heritage lecturer at UCLan, he is passionate about outreach and engaging wider audiences with local history.
Jack Southern, Trustee
Sat 10th October 2026 9:00 am