It’s the start of a new year – what can we expect? As we don’t have a crystal ball we can’t tell you what will happen, but as historians we can tell you about some of the things we will be remembering or marking over 2024. We think there will...

The British have always been a bit snarky about Napoleon – I guess that’s the way victors can play it. For the French, they often seem either to love or loathe him; the same it seems goes for many historians. What does seem to be clear from the recent discussions...

If my generation all remember where they were when the aeroplanes, hijacked by terrorists, flew into the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001, then my parents' generation all knew where they were when they heard about the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. Before the conspiracy theorists and the...

The Kingdom of Poland started its existence in the medieval period as one of the most important countries of eastern Europe. Positioned on key trading routes, it became a powerful nation that had periods of remarkable stability, playing a major role in both the Renaissance and the Reformation. Despite this,...

Physical, mental and neurological disability and differences have existed for as long as people have roamed the earth, with different cultures, groups and communities responding differently to how to support those individuals. How disability has been recognised and treated is not something that has always been recorded over human history,...

Some things are important every year; others only seem to hit our radar when it’s a significant anniversary – think Bonfire Night versus The Battle of Waterloo. That is why we refresh and update our anniversaries calendar every year. For what is left of 2023 we have the 75th anniversary...

If you are over the age of fourteen you probably don’t get the excitement of Halloween. In fact, you might wonder generally what the fuss is about a Christian-Pagan entwined anniversary that leads to the excitement of children and their demands for sugar. However, as adults it is an opportunity...