Textbooks
Explore our diverse range of digital textbooks designed for course adoption and recommended reading at universities and colleges. We publish over 140 textbooks across the social sciences, and an annual subscription to digital textbooks is possible via BUP Digital.
Our content is fully searchable and can be accessed on and off-campus through Shibboleth, OpenAthens or an institutional authenticated IP. For any questions on digital textbook pricing and subscription information, please contact simon.bell@bristol.ac.uk.
We are happy to provide digital samples of any of our coursebooks by completing this form. To see the full collection of all our core textbooks, browse our main website.
Books: Textbooks
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Poetic inquiry is an arts-based approach integrating the humanities and sciences to enhance the quality of social science research and its dissemination.
This insightful guide sheds light on the transformative power of poetic inquiry in academic research. Blending poetry with scholarly work, it offers practical advice on crafting research poems, distinguishing them from literary poems and determining when and how to incorporate them into your studies.
The book:
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helps researchers to explore and express their research creatively;
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emphasises diverse and decolonial viewpoints and paths to knowledge;
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features methods, case studies, prompts and exercises from the Global South and North.
Perfect for researchers eager to explore new dimensions of expression, this guide enriches all aspects of the research process.
This concise, comprehensive volume provides a compelling introduction to the politics, society, economy and culture of France.
Following on from the success of its predecessor volume, Contemporary France, this thoroughly revised and updated new edition places France firmly in its international environment, exploring the significance of developments from #MeToo to the 2024 Paris Olympics, and assessing France’s response to global crises.
The book offers:
- rich empirical data presented in jargon-free, accessible language;
- an up-to-date analysis of the French political landscape today;
- an invaluable analysis for students across academic disciplines as well as for general readers.
Examining crucial debates in contemporary France, this is a highly authoritative text that offers its readers keys for understanding how France is facing the challenges and opportunities of today’s world.
Have you ever wondered whether crime dramas reflect the reality of police work? Or what the future of policing could look like in the context of recent controversies?
Offering thought-provoking insights into understanding, addressing and preventing crime, this fascinating 'go to' book reveals the myths and realities of policing in the 21st century. The 50 facts take in crime prevention, the investigative process, forensics, models of policing, the limits of police powers and a range of other provocative themes. Offering a deeper and richer understanding of the profession, this book will equip you to think critically about modern perceptions of policing.
This is the essential guide to the innovative qualitative research technique of sandboxing.
Originating from play therapy, sandboxing enables children, young people and adults to create three-dimensional scenes using miniature figures and everyday objects in a sand-filled tray. Creating these sand scenes offers opportunities for individuals and groups to reflect on and represent memories, everyday experiences and ideas about the future, which are then shared and discussed.
Offering an invaluable resource for students, researchers and practitioners, this comprehensive book:
- introduces a creative and engaging approach to qualitative data generation;
- features key international case studies, real-world examples and thoughtful reflections on the method’s strengths and limitations;
- equips readers with the tools needed to effectively implement sandboxing in their research journey.
By drawing on creativity, reflexivity, ethics and expertise this book unlocks sandboxing’s potential to transform your research with an inventive and imaginative approach.
Illuminating the often-overlooked perspectives of marginalised groups, this essential textbook offers a transformative exploration of health law and ethics.
Designed as a replacement for (or complement to) foundational health law texts, the book amplifies the voices of those frequently silenced in teaching materials: racialised communities, ethnic minorities, women, disabled individuals, LGBTQI+ people and those disadvantaged by socio-economic and structural factors.
Chapters cover key topics such as abortion, medical negligence, and public health, scrutinising how traditional legal narratives can neglect the nuanced impacts on these diverse groups. Contributors challenge readers to reflect on the production and perpetuation of health inequalities, enriching the curriculum with critical viewpoints.
Teaching tools include:
- accessible summaries throughout the chapters;
- critical reflection questions at the end of each chapter for students and teachers;
- further reading lists and links to external resources.
This is an invaluable text that encourages students and academics to engage deeply with the intersections of law, health(care) and social justice. It is an indispensable companion for any health law course, fostering a more inclusive and well-rounded approach to legal and medical education and practice.
Many planning systems are currently locked into growth-dependence, encouraging market-led development which can widen social inequalities and produce adverse environmental outcomes.
This accessible book introduces students to the debates around growth and planning and sets out the solutions to promote genuinely sustainable communities. It includes:
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a positive proposal for reform of the planning system;
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focussed discussions from the UK and Europe providing lessons for future planning;
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analysis of the challenges of implementing reform.
Covering chapters on cooperatives, community land trusts, local economic development and community assets and infrastructure, as well as commoning, it provides a roadmap for planning system reform with social justice and sustainability at its heart.
In this clear and concise primer, Deirdre Heenan and Jennifer Betts lay out key concepts and debates in the field of mental health.
With overviews of recent developments and stakeholder perspectives, the book introduces contemporary themes in policy and practice. It explores the prevalence, cost and social determinants of mental illness, the changing attitudes and stigma around them, and the roles of the state, voluntary and community sectors in designing and delivering services. Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, the guide includes:
• text boxes and figures to illustrate key points;
• end of chapter summaries;
• international case studies;
• further reading guides.
For students, practitioners, policy makers and newcomers alike, this is an accessible and comprehensive guide to an increasingly prioritised and debated topic.
Interactive documentaries, or i-docs, are web based, multimedia documentaries that immerse audiences through dynamic, interactive platforms. This book unlocks the value of i-docs as a creative research method, providing an engaging guide on how to use i-docs to examine and communicate research subjects.
With examples, conceptual discussion, and practical advice, the book explores how i-docs can illuminate topics including temporalities, power and space, affect and feeling, freedom, and epistemic justice. The book addresses i-docs as a digital form but also shows that even just planning an i-doc on paper can open up new analytical perspectives.
Key features of the book include:
- An easy to use template for planning your own i-doc;
- Advice on how researchers can ‘think with i-docs’ without even producing one;
- Discussion of methodological work with i-docs including participatory i-doc making;
Insights into a range of examples of commercial, activist and research i-docs from around the world.
This book is a valuable resource for scholars, students, community researchers, creatives and activists who want to enlist and ignite the possibilities of i-docs.
Covering a range of important social theorists – from W.E.B. Du Bois to Judith Butler – this accessibly written textbook encourages critical thinking and critical approaches to social work, providing an entry point for anyone interested in thinking theoretically about practice.
Key features include:
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essential terms explained throughout;
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end-of-chapter prompts to promote further thinking from students;
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suggestions for further reading complete with commentary; and
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companion website with links to videos, a lesson plan and additional resources.
Written for introductory audiences and experts alike, this book will appeal to students studying social work or other related social and allied professions at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, as well as practitioners engaged in professional development.
The second edition of this best-selling book provides an essential guide to best practice in adult safeguarding. It has been updated to include recent legislative, guidance and research-based developments and relates them to useful practice examples.
Featuring new support materials and key case studies, it includes:
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a focus on working with marginalised groups under the safeguarding and prevention duties, including ‘transitional’ safeguarding;
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an exploration of best practice in light of changes to national guidance and research;
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findings from a range of Safeguarding Adult Reviews with reflections on the outcomes of two national (England) Safeguarding Review Audits; and
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an expansion of the concepts of professional curiosity and trauma informed/aware approaches.
Students and practitioners are guided to reflect on practice and to extend their skills, knowledge and values to become confident and competent in the complex area of adult safeguarding.
