This book is part of a three-volume series, and the structure and content of the series are shaped by a set of exchanges led by the series editors, David Finkelstein and Martin Conboy, into the writing of a new history of the British and Irish press. It responds to the absence of wide-ranging, up-to-date surveys of newspapers and periodicals across Britain and Ireland by providing ambitious, interdisciplinary and research-led volumes that seek to analyse long-term continuities and changes. Following volumes covering c.1650–1800 (forthcoming), and 1800–1900 (already published), this book addresses the long twentieth century, from 1900 to the present. The Introduction provides an initial overview of the century by studying the evolution of the British and Irish press across five milestone years, and, in particular, examining how the leading titles in the market, the popular daily newspapers, sought to develop their appeal to a broad, mainstream audience. Five chapters then analyse in more detail the central features of the environment in which the press operated: economic forces and patterns of ownership; the institutions and technologies of production and distribution; the reading audience; the legal and regulatory framework; and the identities and communities that structured the market. After these, the bulk of the volume comprises a series of thematic chapters attending to different aspects of the creation, content and impact of newspapers and periodicals in this period. The book concludes with a detailed timeline and a comprehensive bibliography.

It is worth emphasising that the editors have not imposed an interpretative model for authors to follow. The authors come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, bring different expertise to their topics, and offer their own perspectives on the central questions raised by the volume. There are alternative and sometimes competing opinions in this volume. We firmly believe such diversity, and occasionally, discord, is both creative and reflects the breadth of the wider field. What we have asked authors to do, where possible, is to be expansive in their coverage, both chronologically and geographically, and also to combine generalisation with the particularities of examples and case studies. Within the constraints of copyright and our budget, we have also tried to illustrate each chapter, capturing something of the visual appeal that was so important to newspapers and periodicals in this period.