Showing North Through Its Names: A Phenomenology of Medieval and Early-modern Northern England by David Postles

This volume in the English Surnames Survey series looks at the north of England. The definition of what constitutes 'the north' is dependent on a number of variables - social, political, cultural, geographic and linguistic. Allied to this, is an understanding that there was a consciousness of northern-ness, both inside and outside its parameters, based on these criteria. The personal names from the north during the medieval/early-modern period are linguistic phenomena, incorporating speech acts that defined a northern consciousness, and in this way are an invaluable resource in exploring a northern identity.