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My Favourite History Place: the Berlin Wall
Historian feature
Military history enthusiast David Wilson writes about why the Berlin Wall is still such an important symbol and reminder.
I first visited Berlin in the mid 1980s when I was stationed in Germany as part of the British Army. It was an interesting place to go because until then the Cold...
My Favourite History Place: the Berlin Wall
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The throne and the fairy tellers
Historian article
Fairy tale princesses and mysterious castles are just part of the way that historically story tellers have been connected to royalty. In this article some of the most famous story tellers are discussed with their royal patronage and experiences.
Hans Christian Andersen couldn’t believe his luck. In 1854, he was...
The throne and the fairy tellers
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Recorded webinar: The People of 1381
Article
This lecture with Adrian Bell, Helen Lacey and Helen Killick introduces key findings of the AHRC-funded project The People of 1381. Which people and social groups were involved in England’s biggest pre-civil war revolt? How much can we find out about their lives: where did they come from, what actions...
Recorded webinar: The People of 1381
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The People's Pensions
Recorded lecture
Why did the British get pensions when they did? What part did the great social surveys (Booth and Rowntree) play? Was there something rotten at the heart of Empire? What part did fears of a Red Peril play? Was Britain slow, with Bismarck and even the Tsar providing some measures of...
The People's Pensions
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Peter the Great
Classic Pamphlet
No European ruler except Napoleon I has impressed both contemporise and later historians so profoundly as Peter I of Russia by the originality and the personal character of his achievements. Like Napoleon, Peter appeared to some observers, at least in his later years, as almost more than human. He seemed...
Peter the Great
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The Fall of Singapore 1942
Historian article
Churchill called it "the worst disaster and the largest capitulation in British history" and the Fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 has certainly gathered its own mythology in the past 70 years. Was it all the fault of General Percival; were the guns pointing the wrong way; did the...
The Fall of Singapore 1942
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The last days of Lord Londonderry
Historian article
Richard A. Gaunt explores a tragedy at the heart of early nineteenth century British politics, with the suicide of Viscount Castlereagh.
At 7.30 in the morning on Monday 12 August 1822, Robert Stewart, second Marquess of Londonderry, died from self-inflicted injuries caused by cutting the carotid artery in his neck...
The last days of Lord Londonderry
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The secret diaries of William Wilberforce
Historian article
John Coffey shows us what insights can be gained from the diaries of leading abolitionist, William Wilberforce.
The diary is a distinctively modern genre... In English, the first diaries date from the Tudor era, but it is in the seventeenth century that the trickle becomes a flood. Alongside the famous...
The secret diaries of William Wilberforce
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The cultural biography of opium in China
Historian article
Zheng Yangwen shows that despite its association with trade, war and politics, opium was first of all a history of consumption.
Opium has fascinated generations of scholars and generated excellent scholarship on the opium trade, Anglo-Chinese relations, the two opium wars, and Commissioner Lin. The field has diversified in the post-Mao...
The cultural biography of opium in China
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History Abridged: The City of Alexandria
Historian feature
History Abridged: This feature seeks to take a person, event or period and abridge, or focus on, an important event or detail that can get lost in the big picture. Think Horrible Histories for grownups (without the songs and music). See all History Abridged articles
One of the oldest cities...
History Abridged: The City of Alexandria
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Podcast Series: The Cold War
Multipage Article
An HA Podcasted History of the Cold War featuring Dr Elena Hore of the University of Essex, Dr Matthew Grant of Teeside University, Dr Holger Nehring of the University of Sheffield, Dr Michael Shin of the University of Cambridge, Professor Mark White of Queen Mary University of London, Professor Charles...
Podcast Series: The Cold War
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‘Zulu’ and the end of Empire
Historian article
In this article, Nicolas Kinloch examines the 1964 film Zulu. He suggests what it might tell us about the reality of the British Empire and asks if it has anything to say about the era in which the film was made.
One of the most successful British films of 1964...
‘Zulu’ and the end of Empire
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The Christian Kingdoms of Nubia and Ethiopia
Historian article
Adam Simmons draws our attention to the need for further research into the relationship between the medieval Kingdoms of Ethiopia and Nubia – a fascinating time and place in African history which is neglected in the historical archive and about which, so far, there are only limited sources.
The kingdoms of Ethiopia...
The Christian Kingdoms of Nubia and Ethiopia
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History Abridged: Language and the African continent
Historian feature
History Abridged: This feature seeks to take a person, event or period and abridge, or focus on, an important event or detail that can get lost in the big picture. Think Horrible Histories for grownups (without the songs and music). See all History Abridged articles
Africa is a huge continent...
History Abridged: Language and the African continent
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Real Lives: Robert and Thomas Gayer-Anderson
Historian feature
Wendy Barnes describes the real lives of identical twins, Robert and Thomas Gayer-Anderson, who collected a vast quantity of paintings and art objects, much of which was donated to museums around the world. The twins’ final home, Little Hall, Lavenham is now a museum and the headquarters of The Suffolk...
Real Lives: Robert and Thomas Gayer-Anderson
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The Historian 150: Aspects of Africa
The magazine of the Historical Association
4 Reviews
5 Editorial (Read article for free)
6 The British Empire on trial – Gregory Gifford (Read article)
12 Zulu and the end of Empire – Nicolas Kinloch (Read article)
17 Legacies of the Cement Armada – Steven Pierce (Read article)
22 The Christian Kingdoms of Nubia and Ethiopia: neighbouring strangers? –...
The Historian 150: Aspects of Africa
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Eyam: the plague village 1665-66
Historian article
Richard Stone explores the self-sacrifice of a Seventeenth Century village during an epidemic.
History shows us these ‘unprecedented times’ are not that far from previous historical experiences. Lockdown, quarantine, self-isolation, ‘second wave’, ‘third wave’, airborne disease, churches closed; the Covid-19 experience resonates with the plight of the villagers of Eyam, three-and-a-half centuries...
Eyam: the plague village 1665-66
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New Universities of the 60s
Historian article
New Universities of the 60s: One professor's recollections: glad confident morning and after
Living history
How long do professional historians wait before writing about their own personal involvement in episodes of lasting significance in history? If they wait too long they are dead, and their evidence is lost. A striking recent...
New Universities of the 60s
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History Abridged: The Berlin Conference 1884–1885
Historian feature
History Abridged: This feature seeks to take a person, event or period and abridge, or focus on, an important event or detail that can get lost in the big picture. Think Horrible Histories for grownups (without the songs and music). See all History Abridged articles
In 2020 there was lots...
History Abridged: The Berlin Conference 1884–1885
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The Historian 148: Legacy of war
The magazine of the Historical Association
4 Reviews
5 Editorial (Read article for free)
6 Blood and Iron: the violent birth of modern Germany – A nation forged in war – Katja Hoyer (Read article)
12 Richard III and the Princes in the Tower: update – Tim Thornton (Read article)
16 Monty’s school: the benign side of Viscount...
The Historian 148: Legacy of war
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Origins of the European financial markets
Transcribed podcast lecture
This article is transcribed from a 2015 podcast given by Dr Anne Murphy of the University of Hertfordshire. In it Dr Murphy looks at the early origins of the European financial markets from the Italian Renaissance to the present day, as well as providing a useful introduction to finance, the stock market and the bond market....
Origins of the European financial markets
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The Versailles Peace Settlement
Classic Pamphlet
This classic pamphlet takes you through the Paris Peace Conference and the 'German Question', Peacemaking and the Treaty of Versailles, Europe and the German question after Versailles.
The Versailles Peace Settlement
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The Institute of Historical Research
Public History Podcast
The following podcasts are from an interview between Dr Andrew Foster, chair of our Public History Committee with Professor Miles Taylor, Director of the Institute of Historical Research. The podcasts look at the work of the IHR - what it aims to do for the historical profession and wider public, the...
The Institute of Historical Research
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Film: Foreign Intervention in the Cold War
Branch Lecture: Nuneaton Branch
This filmed Branch Lecture entitled "Foreign Intervention in the Cold War" features Dr Volker Prott of Aston University. In his talk, Dr Prott, looks at three international crises of the 1960s and early 1970s, the Congo Crisis, the Kashmir dispute and the Indo Pakistan conflict over East Pakistan/Bangladesh.
Dr Prott examines when, why and...
Film: Foreign Intervention in the Cold War
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The Historian 147: The Historic Environment
The magazine of the Historical Association
5 Editorial (Read article)
6 ‘The cradle of the Industrial Revolution’: landscapes of early textile Lancashire – Michael Winstanley (Read article)
12 The invisible building: what was the forgotten purpose of St. John’s in Bridgend? – Molly Cook (Read article)
16 Grave matters: what the landscape and architecture of Britain’s largest cemetery might tell us...
The Historian 147: The Historic Environment
