Publishing with Purpose
Textbooks
Education is at the heart of our mission to make a difference. Our goal is to support students’ learning with materials that foster understanding, confidence and skills.
We have a diverse and growing programme of textbooks and learning resources that are designed for Social Science courses at university and college level. We take pride in publishing quality content at affordable prices, and we cater to a wide range of learning styles in print and digital formats.
All of our textbooks are available on e-inspection (order here, or use the links on the book pages).
Lecturers are welcome to request inspection copies for potential recommendation on their reading lists and for student and library purchase. In return, we just ask for feedback on the books’ suitability for teaching purposes, in order to help us develop our publishing. You can submit your feedback using our short survey here.
Take a look at our textbooks below or browse by subject.
In line with our commitment to sustainable practice and environmental responsibility, all our textbooks are available primarily on digital inspection for lecturers. A select number of our titles are available on print inspection. Please email bup-textbooks@bristol.ac.uk to enquire.
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If you have any queries, or if you need to order a print inspection copy due to a sight or physical impairment, please email bup-textbooks@bristol.ac.uk.
*A limit of 3 inspection copies may be requested at any one time. A limit of 8 inspection copies may be supplied per person per year.
The global social policy reader
This reader collects together for the first time a comprehensive range of key papers by leaders in the field from a wide range of sources that explain the concepts, actors and processes that constitute global social policy. The Reader will have broad appeal among undergraduate and postgraduate students in a range of social science subjects.

GBP 29.99GBP 23.99 Add to basketGBP 80.00GBP 64.00 Add to basket
Adult lives
A life course perspective
'Adult Lives' is a diverse collection of readings from all stages of life which aim to understand how those living and working together in an ageing society relate to each other. It uses a holistic approach to understanding ageing in adulthood that is applicable to all, including those developing policy and in practice.

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Community Research for Participation
From Theory to Method
Presenting the latest thinking in the field, this book bridges a major gap in knowledge by considering both theoretical and practical issues relating to community research methodologies.

GBP 29.99GBP 23.99 Add to basketGBP 80.00GBP 64.00 Add to basketGBP 29.99GBP 23.99 Add to basketGBP 29.99GBP 23.99
Critical perspectives on user involvement
This original and insightful reader provides a critical stock take of the state of user involvement and will be an important resource for students studying health and social care and social work, researchers and user activists.

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Finance for Housing
An Introduction
In this much-needed text, current housing finance issues (and their history) are linked with broader social policy and political themes. It covers the finance of building and refurbishment, managing and maintaining property for all the different tenures and discusses whether current arrangements are sustainable.

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Understanding Social Security
Issues for Policy and Practice
The political and economic landscape of UK social security provision has changed significantly since the 2008 financial crisis. This fully revised, restructured and updated 3rd edition of a go-to text book covers all the key policy changes and their implications since the elections of 2010 and 2015.

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The Ann Oakley reader
Gender, women and social science
Edited and selected by the author, this reader starts with work first published in the early 1970s. Ann Oakley's research and writing on sex and gender, housework, motherhood, women's health, and social science have influenced many inside and beyond social science, helping to shape the academic study of women and gender up to the present day.

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Social Divisions
Inequality and Diversity in Britain
Informed by sociological theory and recent empirical analysis, the new edition of this classic textbook is an accessible account of the major social divisions that structure social life. Written by experts, it covers an unrivalled range of social divisions, diversity and inequalities. This is an invaluable sourcebook for social science students.

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A Companion to Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Risk
This unique and topical companion provides expert analyses that explore the interface between criminal justice and mental health. It consolidates scholarly analysis of theory, policy and practice and practical debates, in addition to the theoretical and ideological concerns surrounding risk assessment, treatment, control and management.

GBP 29.99GBP 23.99 Add to basketGBP 75.00GBP 60.00 Add to basketGBP 29.99GBP 23.99 Add to basketGBP 29.99GBP 23.99
Shaping health policy
Case study methods and analysis
This collection, written by leading health policy researchers, examines the role that case-studies play in British health policy, covering key health policy literatures in the policy process, analytical frameworks and seminal moments of the NHS.

GBP 28.99GBP 23.19 Add to basketGBP 80.00GBP 64.00 Add to basketGBP 28.99GBP 23.19 Add to basketGBP 28.99GBP 23.19
Child welfare and social policy
An essential reader
This book provides an essential introduction to the key concepts, issues, policies and practices affecting child welfare, with particular emphasis on the changing nature of relationships between child welfare and social policy. No other book brings together such a wide selection of material to form an indispensable teaching and learning resource.

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A Companion to State Power, Liberties and Rights
This book provides succinct yet robust definitions and explanations of core concepts and themes in relation to state power, liberties and human rights. Laid out in a user-friendly A-Z format, entries have with clear direction to related entries and further reading. It will be suitable for students on a variety of courses.

GBP 28.99GBP 23.19 Add to basketGBP 75.00GBP 60.00 Add to basketGBP 28.99GBP 23.19 Add to basketGBP 28.99GBP 23.19