Archaeologists using hi-res motorised ground-penetrating radar have recently detected a well-preserved Viking ship burial, lying just 50cm below topsoil in farmland in south-east Norway. The ship’s 20-metre keel and timbers represent the fourth intact ship burial so far discovered in Norway. It is remarkable that this one has survived, because...

The UK National Archives have posted online an array of fascinating documents and pictures illuminating the history of the 1920s, a decade that saw enormous changes in British society. The new resouce makes available 67 letters, cartoons, photographs, official documents and handwritten notes covering the General Strike, hunger marches and unemployment, the...

Twenty-three  people met in the comfortable Clayton Hotel in central Cardiff in June to attempt to assimilate two thousand years of Welsh history in a week. We were blessed with a heatwave, a bustling city environment, and a lot to see. We started on the eastern edge of South Wales...

We are drawing towards the close of the First World War centenary. This November there will be lots of stories in the media about that period. We wanted to get some of our coverage done early – partly before you all get bogged down with an overload, but also to...

The Maya was one of the world’s greatest ancient civilisations, and its apparently sudden decline in the 9th century AD has long been a subject for historical debate.   Now scientists have found evidence which appears to confirm the theory that the large-scale abandonment of Maya city states was precipitated by a massive drought...

A fascinating collection of more than 4,000 photographs uncovered in the Historic England Archive is giving up its secrets after more than 70 years and is now accessible to the public.  Staff at Historic England’s Archive in Swindon recently discovered 4,050 black and white photographic prints taken by the Topical...

At the end of a sweltering June the Historical Association gathered in London for our annual awards evening. Each year this wonderful event is an opportunity to celebrate some of the people that make history happen across the country on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. For 2018 as the...

Alas it is gone (possibly pursued by a bear or two). If you weren’t in Stratford-upon-Avon on the weekend of 18-19 May then you missed a corker. If you were there, please let us know what you thought by filling out our short HA conference evaluation form.  Day 1: Civil liberties, Cymbeline... and a lot...

For this edition of The Historian, we decided to move away from a subject theme and instead to pay tribute to the HA's branches. These provide an opportunity for anyone with a love of history to get together, to learn and to discuss a very wide range of fascinating topics,...

It’s time to focus on the immediate world around us – yes, it’s Local History Month 2018. Everyone lives in an area of rich local heritage, even if they don’t know it yet. May is the time to investigate, explore and discover the history of the world immediately around you....