ABSTRACT
Social history as a separate discipline is the Cinderella of English historical studies. The social historian differs from other historians only in the questions he asks and the answers he seeks. Social history might be thought to be the historical counterpart of sociology, which ideally has for its field the whole life of man in society. Professor W. W. Rostow, attempting to relate economic forces to social and political events has written: It is a useful convention to regard society as made up of three levels, each with a life and continuity of its own, but related variously to the others. These three levels are normally designated as economic, social, and political. The political and the economic historian are aware of the social framework underpinning the economy and the political system at every point. Demography as a practical science is a branch of sociology: as a historical study it is a branch of social history.
