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Muddy Waters: from migrant to music icon
Historian article
Matt Jux-Blayney explores the impact of the blues singer Muddy Waters against a backdrop of significant social and racial change in the United States of the mid-twentieth century.
On 3 July 1960, a man from Mississippi was introduced onto the stage of the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. He...
Muddy Waters: from migrant to music icon
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The rise and fall of Nauru
Historian article
Aadam Patel offers an insight into the complexities of the recent economic history of a remote Pacific island.
Nauru is an isolated island located in the Pacific Ocean approximately 4,400km north-east from Australia and 1,300km north-east from the Solomon Islands. With an area of just below 21 squared kilometres, it is...
The rise and fall of Nauru
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Recorded webinar: History, Politics and Journalism
Teacher and Student Study Session
History, politics and journalism are intertwined. In this webinar (filmed in December 2021) Professor Anna Whitelock and members of her department from City, University of London explore the inter-related history, politics and journalism of Russia and the Cold War. First, Dina Fainberg explores Soviet relations with the world under Nikita...
Recorded webinar: History, Politics and Journalism
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What Have Historians Been Arguing About... the impact of the British Empire on Britain?
Teaching History feature
The murder of George Floyd during the summer of 2020 and the ongoing ‘culture war’ in Britain over the legacy of the British Empire have reignited interest in imperial history. This focuses, in particular, on the question of the empire’s impact on Britain itself: on how the act of conquering...
What Have Historians Been Arguing About... the impact of the British Empire on Britain?
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The Sykes-Picot agreement and lines in the sand
Historian article
Paula Kitching reveals how a secret diplomatic negotiation 100 years ago provides an insight into the political complexities of the modern-day Middle East.
The Middle East is an area frequently in the news. Over the last ten years the national and religious tensions appear to have exploded with whole regions...
The Sykes-Picot agreement and lines in the sand
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Film: The Kennedys and the Gores
HA Conference 2019 - Keynote Speech
This film was taken at the HA Annual Conference 2019 in Chester and features the HA's President: Professor Tony Badger who presented Friday's keynote lecture.
Find out more about the HA Conference.
In a country that prides itself on its egalitarianism and its democracy, it is perhaps surprising that family...
Film: The Kennedys and the Gores
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The Northern Limit: Britain, Canada and Greenland, 1917-20
Historian article
Imperial ambitions during the First World War extended beyond the Middle East and Africa. In this article Ben Markham looks at the territorial wrangling over Greenland.
It is well known that the British Empire grew in size significantly in the wake of the First World War. In the course of...
The Northern Limit: Britain, Canada and Greenland, 1917-20
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Film: An introduction to the African-American Civil Rights Movement
Article
Film: An introduction to the African-American Civil Rights Movement
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A-level Topic Guide: USA in the 20th century
Multipage Article
The twentieth century in the USA was an eventful period of wars, civil rights movements and political, social and economic developments that shaped the USA into the country it is today. AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC all offer units covering aspects of twentieth-century American history. Whichever board you are studying with...
A-level Topic Guide: USA in the 20th century
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Populism, Progressivism and Trumpism
Historian article
Populism, Progressivism and Trumpism: third party, inter-party and intraparty candidates in campaigns for the American presidency
Michael Dunne explores the complexities of American presidential political campaigning over the last 200 years.
Vox populi, vox dei. The voice of the people is the voice of God. Since these words were first...
Populism, Progressivism and Trumpism
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Recorded webinar series: The Olympic Games
Culture and political impact across the twentieth century
2024 was an Olympic Games year. Held every four years (with the exception of during the World Wars and Covid-19 restrictions), the modern Olympics is the largest international sporting event in the world. However, historically it has not always been just the sports that are played and the athletes’ performances...
Recorded webinar series: The Olympic Games
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An Interview with Antony Beevor (Film)
Antony Beevor, the Medlicott Medal awardee for 2016, tells us his thoughts….
The 2016 Medlicott Medal for services to history will be presented to Antony Beevor this July. He is a popular historian with a loyal following while also being a heavy duty writer whose preparation and research for each of his books takes him years and into archives across the world....
An Interview with Antony Beevor (Film)
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Film: An Interview with Margaret MacMillan
An Interview with Margaret MacMillan
The HA are delighted to announce that the Medlicott Medal for 2015 has been awarded to Professor Margaret MacMillan. The Medlicott Medal is for outstanding contributions to the study and enjoyment of history. The award will be presented on Wednesday 8 July 2015 in central London, where she will also...
Film: An Interview with Margaret MacMillan
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The Japanese History Textbook Controversy: a Content Analysis
Historian article
With almost monotonous regularity the official release in Japan of new or revised secondary school history textbook editions, as well as primeministerial annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine to commemorate the 2.5 million Japanese war dead (including 14 Class-A war criminals), unleash a wave of international protest concerning Japan’s official...
The Japanese History Textbook Controversy: a Content Analysis
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Podcast Series: Canadian Confederation
Multipage Article
In this podcast Professor Edward MacDonald of the University of Prince Edward Island discusses the origins of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, Canadian Confederation and the development of Canada over the 20th Century.
Podcast Series: Canadian Confederation
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The shortest war in history: The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896
Historian article
At 9am on 27 August 1896, following an ultimatum, five ships of the Royal Navy began a bombardment of the Royal Palace and Harem in Zanzibar. Thirty-eight, or 40, or 43 minutes later, depending on which source you believe, the bombardment stopped when the white flag of surrender was raised...
The shortest war in history: The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896
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Gary Sheffield: Origins of the First World War
Podcast
Gary Sheffield, Professor of War studies, the University of Wolverhampton, is one of the UK's foremost historians on the First World War. He is the author of numerous books and previously held posts at the University of Birmingham and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. In April 2014 he spoke at an HA event for teachers...
Gary Sheffield: Origins of the First World War
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The Centenary of the First World War: An unpopular view
Historian article
We are delighted to have an original article by Gary Sheffield in this edition of The Historian.
Gary Sheffield is Professor of War Studies, University of Wolverhampton. He is a specialist on Britain at war 1914-45 and is one of Britain's foremost historians on the First World War. He has...
The Centenary of the First World War: An unpopular view
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Writing the First World War - Podcasts
Writing the First World War
The Writing the First World War event in partnership with the English Association and the British Library took place at the British Library in London on April 14th.
Over 80 teachers attended a wonderful day of stimulating professional development which was kicked off by a thought provoking take on how...
Writing the First World War - Podcasts
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Women, War and Revolution
Classic Pamphlet
On the surface, the period 1914 to 1945 seems to have encompassed massive changes in the position of women in Europe, in response to the demands of war and revolution. Yet historians have questioned the extent of the transformation, since the acquisition of the vote, as well as improvements in...
Women, War and Revolution
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The Origins of the Second Great War
Classic Pamphlet
This pamphlet provides a detailed account of the events leading up to the outbreak of war in 1939, covering the various factors that played a role in the outbreak of war such as tension over Poland and the Spanish Civil War, as well as the nature and effect of diplomatic...
The Origins of the Second Great War
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'Women and Children first!' a lost tale of Empire and Heroism
Historian article
In January 1852, under the command of Captain Robert Salmond, HMS Birkenhead left Portsmouth carrying troops and officers' wives and families from ten different regiments. Most were from the 73rd Regiment of Foot, and were on their way to South Africa to fight the Xhosa in the 8th Kaffir War (1850-1853),...
'Women and Children first!' a lost tale of Empire and Heroism
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The Origins of the First World War
Classic Pamphlet
The First World War broke out suddenly and unexpectedly in midsummer 1914, following the murder of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Hapsburg, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, at Sarajevo, in Bosnia, on 28 June. Since no war involving the European great powers had occurred since 1871, the possibility of...
The Origins of the First World War
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The Romanov Tercentenary: nostalgia versus history on the eve of the Great War
Historian article
The spring of 2013 was unusually significant for devotees of the Romanov dynasty. Though there was little international recognition of the fact, the season marked the 400th anniversary of the accession of Russia's first Romanov tsar. Historically, the story was a most dramatic one, for Mikhail Fedorovich had not seized...
The Romanov Tercentenary: nostalgia versus history on the eve of the Great War
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The Journey to Icarie and Reunion: A Romance of Socialism on the Texas Frontier
Historian article
The viewer of the internationally popular television show Dallas was routinely treated to an aerial tour that skimmed across the open prairie over the distinctive skyscrapers across the fifty-yard line of Texas Stadium and up the manicured pastures of South Fork.
This façade of larger-than-life Texana reflects an urban reality...
The Journey to Icarie and Reunion: A Romance of Socialism on the Texas Frontier
