James Moore BA (Oxon), PhD (Manchester)

Deputy Director, Centre for Metropolitan History

James specialises in the comparative urban history of nineteenth-century Britain. His research interests include urban and regional politics, local government and civic identity. His also works on the influence of classical ideas on urban development and the role of museums and visual art in shaping urban culture. He has recently completed a book on the changing structure of urban Liberal politics in the late-nineteenth century and is currently finalising a joint monograph, with Victoria Whitfield, on the patronage of the visual arts in the industrial North West of England. The latter volume is the product of a five-year AHRB research project, based at the University of Manchester. James’s ongoing work includes a new study of London Progressivism c.1885-1914, examining the role of political ideology in shaping London’s modern metropolitan identity.

James was appointed deputy director of the Centre for Metropolitan History in October 2005. For more about the activities of the Centre visit the CMH website. He is the Programme Director for the MAs in Historical Research, Local and Regional History, and Urban and Metropolitan History.

Select publications

  • ‘Progressive Pioneers: Manchester Liberalism, The Independent Labour party and local politics in the 1890s’, Historical Journal, 44, 4 (2001).
  • ‘Municipal knowledge and policy networks in British local government 1780-1914’, (with R. Rodger), Jahrbuch für Europäische Verwaltungsgeschichte - Yearbook of European Administrative History, 15 (2003).
  • ‘Liberalism and the politics of suburbia: Electoral dynamics in late nineteenth-century South Manchester’, Urban History, 30 (2003).
  • ‘Periclean Preston – public art and the classical tradition in nineteenth century Lancashire’, Northern History, 40 (2003).
  • The Transformation of Urban Liberalism: Party Politics and Urban Governance in Late-Nineteenth Century England (2006).
  • Corruption in Urban Politics and Society, Britain 1780-1950 [ed. with J. Smith] (2007).
  • High Art and Tall Chimneys: Urban Culture and the Formation of Art Institutions in the North West of England, 1780-1914 [with V. Whitfield] (forthcoming 2008).

Contact