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Earth heroes: Etta Lemon, ‘The Mother of Birds’
Primary History article
In this article Ailsa Fidler considers Etta Lemon and her role in halting the plume boom, which saw many bird species driven to the edge of extinction, all in the name of fashion. Linking a study of Etta to the government’s policy on Climate Education, the article shows how Etta’s...
Earth heroes: Etta Lemon, ‘The Mother of Birds’
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The year without a summer and other cautionary tales
Primary History article
Susie Townsend explores the story of the Tambora volcanic explosion of 1815 and the catastrophic effect that this had on climate around the world. She uses contemporary accounts and images to set the scene. She demonstrates how this one event far away in Indonesia affected climate across the whole world....
The year without a summer and other cautionary tales
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Political and social attitudes underpinning the 1924 Olympics
Historian article
The 1924 Olympics in Paris are best known to many British people through the ‘Chariots of Fire’ film from the early 1980s. The film touches on some of the political and social attitudes prevalent in the 1920s and Steve Illingworth explores these issues further in this article. It is argued...
Political and social attitudes underpinning the 1924 Olympics
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The right to fight: women’s boxing in Britain
Historian article
In this article Matthew Taylor explores the history of women’s boxing in Britain from the early eighteenth century onwards, showing how prevailing gender norms have led to this activity being marginalised by historians. It is argued that the key women boxers he discusses should be celebrated as key figures, not just in the history of sport but...
The right to fight: women’s boxing in Britain
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Opinion: Who was ‘the man of his time’?
Historian article
In this new, occasional section of The Historian, contributors share their thoughts on matters of public historical debate. We invite our readers to respond, either by writing to the editors at thehistorian@history.org.uk or by writing their own opinion piece. Here, Lorenzo Kamel shares his thoughts on why saying ‘he was a...
Opinion: Who was ‘the man of his time’?
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Britain and the First World War: not just battles
Historian feature
When the First World War started in the summer of 1914 it began a series of events that would change the world for ever; it also accelerated changes and ideas that were already underway. In some cases, big issues appeared to be put to one side while the immediate needs of...
Britain and the First World War: not just battles
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Maximising the power of storytelling in the history classroom
Teaching History article
James Hopkins’s Year 10 class had been excited by their course on medicine through time, but were less enthused about their new study of Norman England. They told him that the topic felt ‘distant’ and ‘not real’. Recalling his own experience as a student, Hopkins was interested in the ways...
Maximising the power of storytelling in the history classroom
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Historical fiction and story: the informed imagination
Primary History article
Historical stories and fiction give full rein to children's imaginations and creativity. As such, they are a standard, major element in pupils' historical authoring.Writing history stories is stimulating, enjoyable and challenging. When using their historical imaginations children as authors have to be disciplined. They must work within the strict parameters...
Historical fiction and story: the informed imagination
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A View from the Classroom: Writing History
Article
Introduction
I imagine many people have memories of staring at a blank piece of paper - and wondering what to write.....and where to start?
There are many questions to consider.
How do children become eager and confident writers in the context of history?
When is writing the best response, and...
A View from the Classroom: Writing History
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Think Bubble 60: Writing from experience
Primary History article
The business of ‘experiencing' history is in as healthy state as it is possible to imagine. In a recent straw poll of primary GTP trainees in the Oxford-Bucks partnership over 80% cited drama, role play or similar inter-active experience as being the most memorable feature of learning history in the...
Think Bubble 60: Writing from experience
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Crowdsourcing the heritage of the Second World War
Historian article
Stuart Lee, Ylva Berglund Prytz and Matthew Kidd introduce an innovative project to capture objects and the memories they hold.
Crowdsourcing the heritage of the Second World War
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Bonapartism after Napoleon III: the Prince Imperial and Eugene Loudun
Historian article
Emperor Napoleon III of France was deposed in 1870 and then died three years later. His son, known as the Prince Imperial, lived in exile in south-east England. There he and his supporters kept alive ambitions for a triumphant return of the Empire. In this article, Ian Sygrave assesses the...
Bonapartism after Napoleon III: the Prince Imperial and Eugene Loudun
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The Historian 45
The magazine of the Historical Association
Featured articles
3 Assessing British India - P.J. Marshall
9 Local History: W.G. Hoskins and the Local Springs of English History - Charles Phythian-Adams
25 Education Forum: Current Challenges and Developments in the Teaching of History in Northern Ireland: To teach the history of Northern Ireland or not? - Carmel Gallagher
The Historian 45
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Exploring the history of our place with very young children
Primary History article
Karin Doull considers how we can develop historical thinking in the Early Years in this article about locality and place. Karin offers helpful suggestions for developing historical vocabulary and assessing understanding.
How can we seek to encourage Foundation Stage children to engage with historical thinking and processes? What appears to...
Exploring the history of our place with very young children
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Why are there so many ‘mummies’ in Western museums?
Primary History article
Richard Harris invites us to consider how the teaching of ancient Egypt can be decolonised by considering non-Western perspectives. The article provides a fascinating viewpoint on this popular period of history and shares examples of how this can be explored with children.
One of the joys of working in history...
Why are there so many ‘mummies’ in Western museums?
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Going to school: a post-1066 thematic study
Primary History article
The post-1066 thematic study provides us with a really exciting opportunity to consider something different. While non-statutory guidance provides some suggestions to consider, the actual possibilities are endless and enable us to choose something highly relevant to our schools. In this article, Paul Bracey invites us to explore schooling over...
Going to school: a post-1066 thematic study
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Using some more unusual sources in the primary classroom
Primary History article
In this article Tim Lomas illustrates how it is valid and creative to go beyond some of the most popular sources used by primary history teachers. He looks at a number of historical enquiries and questions that might be considered as a theme and some sources that might be used....
Using some more unusual sources in the primary classroom
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Exploring the Great Fire of London and Deaf history
Primary History article
Kate Loveman and James Harrod offer new insights into the Great Fire of London by focussing on the inclusion of Deaf history in this popular topic. They shares the online teaching resources created in their joint partnership between the University of Leicester and the Museum of London.
Each year thousands...
Exploring the Great Fire of London and Deaf history
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The role of takeaways in shaping a history curriculum
Teaching History article
Jonathan Grande explains how he and his department faced up to the paradox that teaching rich detail is vital for good historical learning and is vital for students to remember in the short term, but is not essential to remember for ever. This article sets out his exploration of why...
The role of takeaways in shaping a history curriculum
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What Have Historians Been Arguing About... the history of Australia
Teaching History feature
In 1968, in his Boyer Lectures, the anthropologist W.E.H. Stanner argued that Australia’s sense of its past, its collective memory, had been built on a state of forgetting:
It is a structural matter, a view from a window which has been carefully placed to exclude a whole quadrant of the...
What Have Historians Been Arguing About... the history of Australia
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Hearing the call to arms: Herbert Douglas Fisher
Historian article
The intellectual aristocracy of late Victorian and early Edwardian Britain constitutes a Venn diagram of familiar names – the Stracheys and the Stephens, the Wedgwoods and the Darwins, the Keynes and the Trevelyans. These affluent, upper middle-class pillars of public life espoused a secular, liberal view of the world. Their depth...
Hearing the call to arms: Herbert Douglas Fisher
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The Historian 113: History Painting in England
The magazine of the Historical Association
5 Editorial
6 Empires of Gold - Eamonn Gearon (Read Article)
11 The President's Column - Jackie Eales
12 History Painting in England: Benjamin West, Philip James de Loutherbourg, J.M.W. Turner - A. D. Harvey (Read Article)
18 Why Reichskristallnacht? - Sarah Newman (Read Article)
22 Robert Peel: Portraiture and political commemoration -...
The Historian 113: History Painting in England
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Fifties Britain through the senses: ‘never had it so good’?
Teaching History article
Maya Stiasny was faced with difficulties familiar to many of us. Her new Year 12 students were struggling to get to grips with a new period of history. They were not interrogating primary sources with sufficient vigour. Her solution, detailed here, was novel. Working on the rich social history of post-war...
Fifties Britain through the senses: ‘never had it so good’?
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The International Journal Volume 10 Number 2
Journal
International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research Volume 10, Number 2- Spring 2012.
Marcelo Fronza and Maria Auxiliadora Moreira dos Santos The Conceptions of Objective Historical Knowledge of Young Students in Brazilian High Schools
Olga Magalhaes Historical Narratives of Young Portuguese Students
Rita de Cassia Goncalves Pacheco...
The International Journal Volume 10 Number 2
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Teaching the Wars of the Roses in primary history
Primary History article
The Tudors is a relatively popular topic for those Key Stage 2 teachers looking at a theme extending beyond 1066. In this article Matthew Sossick argues that there is a large gap in understanding if pupils understand nothing of how the Tudors emerged as such a dominant dynasty. This means...
Teaching the Wars of the Roses in primary history
