Author Archives: Alison Fox

The UCL Press team will be away for a Spring break from 5.30pm on Wednesday 1 April 2026 to 9.00am on Wednesday 8 April 2026.

Our team will be offline during this period and will respond to all messages once we return. Thank you for your patience and for bearing with us while we take this short break.

All UCL Press books and journals will remain freely available throughout the closure. You can continue to browse, read and download our open access titles via:

• The UCL Press website
• JSTOR
• OAPEN
• Google Books

We hope you enjoy exploring our collections while we are away. We will be back online from Wednesday 8 April 2026.

On 17th March, more than 100 colleagues, friends and members of the academic community gathered  to celebrate the life and work of Dr Paul Ayris, and to mark the launch of his open access book, Thomas Cranmer’s Register, which was the result of more than 40 years of extraordinary academic endeavour.

Speakers reflected on Paul’s significant contributions to UCL and to the wider scholarly community:

• Professor Jennifer Hudson, Vice-Provost (Faculties) reflected on her work with Paul during the past two years, and his leadership of LCCOS (Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science) at UCL
• Professor Emeritus David Price, former Vice-Provost (Research) at UCL, who shared warm recollections of working closely with Paul and spoke about their long-standing friendship.
• Professor Richard Rex, Professor of Reformation History at the University of Cambridge, who placed Paul’s pioneering research on Thomas Cranmer’s Register in its wider scholarly context and reflected on their academic collaboration.
• Dr Michael Spence, President and Provost of UCL, who led the audience in a moment of remembrance.

Paul was founder, CEO and a champion of UCL Press, and dedicated most of his career to UCL. He joined in 1997 as Deputy Librarian and later became Director of UCL Library Services, where he strengthened the university’s commitment to openness and public engagement. In 2018, he was appointed Pro-Vice-Provost of LCCOS (Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science) with an expanded portfolio, and his leadership in Open Science helped shape practice across the sector. His influence played a key role in establishing UCL Press as a global leader in open access publishing.

Paul also volunteered his time to a range of organisations across the sector in service of his vision of an open, accessible and publicly engaged higher education ecosystem, including as President of LIBER, the Association of European Research Libraries, and as Chair of League of European Research Universities’ Working Groups on Roadmaps for Open Access, Research Data and Open Science. He was latterly proud to serve as Chair of the LERU Group for Open Science Ambassadors.

Paul’s impact is felt across UCL, within the international library and scholarly communications communities, and among all who had the privilege of working with him. 

Find out more about Paul Ayris’ life and work: https://uclpress.co.uk/in-memoriam-dr-paul-ayris-ba-phd-frhist/

Read and download Thomas Cranmer’s Register: https://uclpress.co.uk/book/thomas-cranmers-register/

UCL Press is pleased to note the recent coverage of University College London: The Bloomsbury Campus in the Daily Telegraph. Writing in the paper, Christopher Howse described the volume as ‘a magnificent new architectural history of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus’, recognising the significance of this landmark publication for the university’s bicentenary.

Published as part of a trio of books marking UCL’s two hundredth year, the volume offers the most comprehensive study to date of the buildings, landscapes and planning decisions that have shaped UCL’s central London home. It is the nineteenth volume in the long running Survey of London series and the first to be published by UCL Press, where it is available in full as open access.

The authors trace the evolution of the Bloomsbury estate from UCL’s radical beginnings in 1826 to its position today as a global university committed to openness, innovation and public purpose. Through extensive archival research and newly commissioned photography, the book brings to light the architectural character of the campus and the ideas that have guided its development over two centuries.

Links

• Read the article (££).
• Read and download the open access book

We are delighted to share that Morning Star has reviewed Walter Benjamin’s Ark: a departure in biography by John Schad.

The reviewer draws attention to the book’s striking and unconventional approach to Benjamin’s life. Rather than following a traditional biographical path, the book traces the experiences of Benjamin’s son, Stefan, and uses this perspective to illuminate new dimensions of Benjamin’s story.

The review highlights the vivid and unsettling quality of the narrative. The chapters that follow Stefan’s journey aboard the Dunera are described as possessing the intensity of a magic realist novel. This captures something essential about the book: its willingness to blend archival insight with creative energy in order to reveal the emotional complexity surrounding Benjamin’s legacy.

It is great to see the book’s originality and emotional depth recognised. If you are interested in new approaches to life writing or want to discover a different perspective on Benjamin, this is a powerful place to start.

Read the review: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/walter-benjamin-not-you-know-him
Download the book free: https://uclpress.co.uk/book/walter-benjamins-ark/

UCL Press has been awarded a gold rated 100% ASPIRE score for its accessibility statement, recognising the Press’s commitment to delivering the highest standard of accessible digital publishing.

The ASPIRE project is an industry wide initiative that evaluates the clarity, transparency and usability of accessibility information provided by scholarly publishers and content platforms. A 100% score is the project’s highest rating and reflects best practice in communicating accessibility support to readers, librarians and disability services teams.

Achieving the gold rating follows a sustained programme of work at UCL Press to improve the accessibility of its open access books and journals. This has included updating accessibility documentation, enhancing workflows for EPUB and PDF formats, and strengthening guidance for authors and editors on inclusive publishing.

Jaimee Biggins, Production Manager at UCL Press, welcomed the result and highlighted its value for the research community. She noted that a clear and comprehensive accessibility statement helps all readers understand how they can use and engage with content and demonstrates the Press’s commitment to meeting diverse needs.

The rating also reflects UCL’s institutional commitment to equitable access to knowledge. As the UK’s first fully open access university press, UCL Press aims to ensure that removing paywalls goes hand in hand with removing barriers created by format, technology or disability.

UCL Press is pleased to share that Dr Jovana Diković, author of The Laissez-Faire Peasant: Post-Socialist Rural Development in Serbia, has been honoured by the Ethnographic Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

The award recognises Dr Diković’s outstanding contribution to ethnological and anthropological research. Presented once every four years, it is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious honours within the Serbian anthropological community.

Published by UCL Press in 2025, The Laissez-Faire Peasant offers a timely and original examination of post-socialist rural transformation in Serbia. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the book explores how evolving political and economic structures have shaped everyday life, agricultural practices and rural identities.

We warmly congratulate Dr Diković on this outstanding achievement.

UCL Press is proud to announce the publication of two significant new open access books to celebrate UCL’s 200th anniversary. Together, they offer fresh insights into the people, places and stories that have shaped the university since 1826.

Student London: A New History of Higher Education in the Capital

Student London is a 200‑year history of student life in London, exploring diverse experiences, culture and activism through rich archival sources.

Students have formed a significant part of London’s population since the foundation of its first university in 1826, and Student London centres their experiences in the city’s history. The book draws on an unusually rich set of sources that include institutional records, college magazines, court reports, secret service files, memoirs and oral histories. Together, these accounts capture life at the original London University, known as UCL since 1836, as well as many other institutions that later became part of it.
The authors explore a wide range of higher education experiences across medical schools, teacher training colleges and specialist institutes. They consider everyday life, funding and student welfare, and follow students into recreation, sports and leisure. The book also reflects on shifting attitudes to class, race, gender, sex and sexuality, and offers a deeper engagement with London’s imperial history than earlier studies of higher education.

Read and download it free from https://uclpress.co.uk/book/student-london/

University College London: The Bloomsbury Campus

University College London: The Bloomsbury Campus is first comprehensive account of UCL’s architectural history and the evolution of its iconic London Bloomsbury campus over the past 200 years, and the first of the iconic Survey of London series to be published in open access by UCL Press.

Since the construction of its iconic neoclassical building in Gower Street, UCL has been an increasingly influential presence in the capital’s Bloomsbury district, shaping the character of its built environment and acting as a magnet for other academic institutions. Over two hundred years UCL has expanded to form an extensive campus, its sprawling footprint and varied building stock reflecting growth in student numbers and advances in education, technology and culture.

Survey of London is a renowned series of volumes running from the 1890s to document the buildings of London. Having been part of UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture since 2013, it is uniquely placed to offer the first comprehensive account of the university’s buildings and the evolution of its historic Bloomsbury campus.

This Survey of London monograph provides a new understanding of this significant estate in central London, bringing to light a complex and engaging architectural story with many facets that have been previously overlooked or neglected.

Read and download it free: https://uclpress.co.uk/book/university-college-london/

Together, the books provide new perspectives on UCL’s past and form a key part of the university’s Bicentenary programme.

UCL Press is delighted to announce the publication of the first Survey of London volume to be released in open access: University College London: The Bloomsbury Campus.

Formerly published by Yale University Press, the Survey of London is a renowned series of architectural and topographical studies documenting the evolving built environment of London’s neighbourhoods. Known for its meticulous research and richly illustrated volumes, the series is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the history and architecture of the capital.

The new volume offers an in‑depth account of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, tracing its architectural development, historical importance, and the role its buildings have played in shaping the university’s identity. It is the first volume in the series to be published by UCL Press, and the first to be made freely available as an open access PDF.

Its publication marks the start of UCL’s 200‑year celebrations, reflecting the university’s longstanding commitment to sharing knowledge widely and supporting global access to scholarship. Making the Survey of London openly accessible underscores UCL’s dedication to public engagement and the dissemination of high-quality research.

Commissioning editor Dr Chris Penfold said: ‘We are very pleased to welcome the Survey of London series to UCL Press. The series has a long and distinguished history. The combination of new research, detailed building-by-building analysis and extensive illustrative material makes the series an indispensable tool for architectural historians. We look forward to working with the team on forthcoming volumes.’

Colin Thom, Director of the Survey of London, said: ‘The move to UCL Press opens up an exciting new chapter in the Survey of London’s long and distinguished history. The UCL Press open-access model – the first established by a UK university press – is very much in keeping with the Survey’s founding ethos and public-service traditions, and promises a full range of publishing formats that will achieve far wider outreach and impact for us, while maintaining the continuity and posterity of the series. We are also delighted that the first benefit of this new relationship should be a monograph volume shedding new light on 200 years of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus’.

Scheduled maintenance affecting UCL Press systems will take place from 17:00 GMT on Friday 23rd January 2026 and continue throughout the weekend. We anticipate that the work will be completed by 14:00 GMT on Monday 26th January

During this time, some services on the UCL Press website may be unavailable, and downloads may not be accessible via the UCL Press platform.

UCL Press books will, however, remain available via external platforms, including:

• JSTOR
• OAPEN
• Google Books

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience while this essential work is carried out.

UCL Press is delighted to announce the publication of Thomas Cranmer’s Register: A Record of Archiepiscopal Administration in Diocese and Province, edited by Dr Paul Ayris and with a Foreword by Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch.

This significant new edition provides access to text from Thomas Cranmer’s register, one of the most important sources for understanding the early Tudor church. Covering the years 1533 to 1553, the register captures a period of intense religious and political transformation, including the break with Rome, the growth of royal authority in church affairs, and the early shaping of a Protestant state.

To date, the register has presented many problems for researchers, with 16^th-century handwriting hard for many to decipher and the manuscript’s location in London’s Lambeth Palace out of reach for many. Dr Ayris’s edition offers complete transcription of the difficult text and summaries of Latin passages. The register text is supported by editorial introductions that guide readers through the register’s structure and key themes, shedding new light on how Cranmer managed ecclesiastical business across both the diocese and province of Canterbury. Publication in open access will make the register text immediately available to all researchers worldwide.

The edition brings several major discoveries to public attention. Newly identified records from the diocese of Norwich in 1550 show that Cranmer, not Bishop Nicholas Ridley, initiated the instruction to remove stone altars from English churches. Dr Ayris also proposes a new explanation for the changing references to English Bible reading in the 1536 Royal Injunctions, offering fresh insight into the decision‑making of the period. Additional material from the Court of First Fruits and Tenths, together with detailed evidence of clerical appointments, provides the most complete overview to date of church promotions between 1533 and 1553.

Dr Ayris completed the edition shortly before his death in December 2025, drawing on more than 45 years of research. Published in association with the Canterbury and York Society, the volume stands as a major new resource for scholars of the Tudor period and the English Reformation.

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Abut the Author

Paul Ayris (April 1957- December 2025) was Pro-Vice-Provost, Libraries, Culture, Collections and Open Science, at UCL. He previously published on aspects of Cranmer’s register and its significance. He was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, formerly President of LIBER (Association of European Research Libraries) and chaired the Open Science Ambassadors group in LERU (League of European Research Universities).