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Bombing and the Air War on the Italian Front 1915-1918
Article
During the First World War air operations were on a much smaller scale on the Italian front than in France and Flanders. Italian fighter pilots claimed to have shot down fewer than a tenth of the number of enemy aircraft officially credited to German fighter pilots operating over the Western...
Bombing and the Air War on the Italian Front 1915-1918
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William Morris, Art and the Rise of the British Labour Movement
Article
Commenting in early 1934 at the University College, Hull, at the time of the centenary of William Morris’ birth and of a large exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the historian and active socialist, G.D.H. Cole commented, William Morris’ influence is very much alive today: but let us not...
William Morris, Art and the Rise of the British Labour Movement
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Attitudes to Liberty and Enslavement: the career of James Irving, a Liverpool slave ship surgeon and captain
Historian article
Prior to abolition in 1807, Britain was the world’s leading slave trading nation. Of an estimated six million individuals forcibly transported from Africa in the transatlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century, almost 2.5 million (40 per cent) were carried in British vessels.2 The contemporary attitudes and assumptions which underpinned...
Attitudes to Liberty and Enslavement: the career of James Irving, a Liverpool slave ship surgeon and captain
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Cholera and the Fight for Public Health Reform in Mid-Victorian England
Article
Of the many social changes that occurred during the Victorian age, public health reform is widely agreed to be one of the most significant. In the early Victorian era the vast majority of Britons drank water from murky ponds and rivers, carried to their dwellings in buckets; and their excrement...
Cholera and the Fight for Public Health Reform in Mid-Victorian England
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'Wanted, The Elusive Charlie Peace': A Sheffield Killer Of The 1870s As Popular Hero
Historian article
On 28 November 1876, William and John Habron, Irish brothers habitually in trouble with the police, were tried at Manchester Assizes for the murder three months before of Police Constable Nicholas Cock (on the basis of ‘scientific’ footprint evidence at the scene of the crime). The jury found 19 year-old...
'Wanted, The Elusive Charlie Peace': A Sheffield Killer Of The 1870s As Popular Hero
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The Historian 55: Arthur, Prince of Wales and his training for kingship
The magazine of the Historical Association
Featured articles:
Arthur Prince of Wales,
Jane Austen: a Writer for all Seasons - Irene Collins (Read article)
The Spanish Armada of...1597? - Graham Darby (Read article)
Cartooning King Cotton - Alan Fowler and Terry Wyke (Read article)
From Disraeli to Callaghan, Britain 1879 to 1979 - A.J.P. Taylor (Read article)...
The Historian 55: Arthur, Prince of Wales and his training for kingship
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The Press and the Public during the Boer War 1899-1902
Article
Dr Jacqueline Beaumont Hughes considers some aspects of the role of the Press during the Boer War. The conflict between Great Britain and the Republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State which slipped into war in October 1899 was to become the most significant since the Crimean war. It...
The Press and the Public during the Boer War 1899-1902
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The strange death of King Harold II: Propaganda and the problem of legitimacy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings
Historian article
How did King Harold II die at the Battle of Hastings? The question is simple enough and the answer is apparently well known. Harold was killed by an arrow which struck him in the eye. His death is depicted clearly on the Bayeux Tapestry in one of its most famous...
The strange death of King Harold II: Propaganda and the problem of legitimacy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings
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The Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait 1898-1899: The birth of social anthropology?
Article
Dr John Shepherd reviews the history of a major anthropological expedition one hundred years ago. On 10 March 1898 The Times reported that Cambridge Anthropological Expedition led by Alfred Cort Haddon had sailed from London, bound for the Torres Strait region between Australia and New Guinea. In Imperial Britain, the...
The Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait 1898-1899: The birth of social anthropology?
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To what extent was the failure of denazification in Germany 1945-48 a result of the apathy of the allies?
Historian article
To blame the failure of the denazification process in postwar Germany entirely on a vague and generalised concept such as apathy is simplistic and does not stand up to serious scrutiny. Denazification was one of the most ambitious attempts ever at provoking an artificial revolution; it is reasonable to assume...
To what extent was the failure of denazification in Germany 1945-48 a result of the apathy of the allies?
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Australia's Gallipoli, 1915: myths and realities
Historian article
Carl Bridge gives us an unexpected Australian perspective on the unsuccessful landings at Gallipoli in 1915...
Australia's Gallipoli, 1915: myths and realities
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Out and About in Lyme Regis
Historian feature
Explore Lyme Regis’ past as John Davis guides you on a historical trail through the iconic seaside town...
Out and About in Lyme Regis
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What do you do if your members don’t come to your events?
Historian article
Branch President, Sean Lang, explains how a radical departure from the traditional branch lecture programme is helping to revitalise the HA in Cambridge.
What do you do if your members don’t come to your events?
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Out and About in Ryedale
Historian feature
Tom Pickles explores Ryedale in Yorkshire, where an extraordinary network of churches bears witness to the social, political, and religious transformations of the Anglo-Saxon period.
Out and About in Ryedale
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Anglo-Saxon women and power
Historian article
Elite Anglo-Saxon women played a powerful role in the religious affairs and politics of their day and were important patrons of learning and culture.
Anglo-Saxon women and power
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Lucy Hughes-Hallett on telling an HA branch about a book
Historian article
Dave Martin interviews the author of Cleopatra: histories, dreams and distortions, winner of the Fawcett Prize and the Emily Toth Award.
Lucy Hughes-Hallett on telling an HA branch about a book
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Forbidden friendships: taverns, nightclubs, bottle bars and emancipation
Historian article
The modern gay-rights movement has its origins in a 1960s New York ‘bottle bar’, but as Ben Jerrit explains, drinking establishments have been centres of gay culture and social resistance for centuries.
Forbidden friendships: taverns, nightclubs, bottle bars and emancipation
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Robert Branford: a faithful servant of Southwark
Historian article
Stephen Bourne explains how he pieced together the story of Robert Branford, the earliest known mixed-race officer in the Metropolitan Police, who faithfully served the people of Southwark in the Victorian era.
Robert Branford: a faithful servant of Southwark
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Out and About in Derry/Londonderry
Historian feature
Jenni Hyde was out and about in Derry in 2016 and describes how the sights of the city tell the story of a history which is so much more than just the legacy of the Troubles.
Out and About in Derry/Londonderry
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Kings and coins in later Anglo-Saxon England
Historian article
The study of Anglo-Saxon coins shows the sophistication of tenth- and eleventh-century government and of the economy. But they carried a moral and religious message too.
Kings and coins in later Anglo-Saxon England
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A tale of two Turings
Historian article
Among the posthumous attempts to celebrate his scientific importance, alongside recognition of the unwarranted injustices to which he was subjected, two important statues to Alan Turing are highlighted by Dave Martin.
A tale of two Turings
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My Favourite History Place: Lord Street, Southport
Historian feature
Trevor James introduces an international dimension to local history, revealing how a future French Emperor interpreted his affection for Southport’s Lord Street into the extensive redesign of Parisian streets.
My Favourite History Place: Lord Street, Southport
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Shadow states and armed struggle
Historian article
How did groups resisting the creation of new borders after 1947 use shadow state structures? Luke Rimmo Lego, Abigail Tamang and Sneha Singh with Laishram Bullion and Chinglai Ngamba Moirangthem explore the history of these structures and their development over the past half century.
Shadow states and armed struggle
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Tunnel visions: London’s wartime shelters
Historian article
Ronan Thomas describes two different Second World War shelters in London. One was the top-secret Mayfair bunker in which Winston Churchill sheltered during the Blitz and governed the country from underground; the other protected thousands of south Londoners and went on to provide shelter to visitors to the capital for several years...
Tunnel visions: London’s wartime shelters
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Decoding medieval pilgrimage
Historian article
Pilgrimage played a significant role in medieval life and belief. Pilgrims travelled far and wide to express their devotion to saints and their cults. Who were the pilgrims and what did pilgrimage involve? Luke Daly makes sense of this fascinating and complex phenomenon...
Decoding medieval pilgrimage
