First published in English in 1981, Historical Research on Social Mobility treats a central area of social history: the history of social mobility. It provides a unique guide to the wide range of research in this area that is carried out by many specialists of varying disciplines within social science.

Concentrating on Western Europe and the USA during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the book considers four topics-changes in the occupational and social opportunities of the working class; the inequality of educational opportunity; shifts in the recruitment of business elites, and changes in the social origins of the political elites. Illustrating concrete results of research into the history of social mobility, the volume also points to both the advances and shortcomings in this relatively new area.

Incorporating an extensive bibliography, the book provides an invaluable stimulus for further reading and investigation.

Hartmut Kaelble is a German historian. He was Senior Professor of Social History at Humboldt University of Berlin until 2013. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard University, University of Oxford, and University of Rotterdam. His research interests include Comparative social history of Europe, including history of social inequality, the welfare state, consumption, the family, and History of European Integration.