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In conversation with Elizabeth King
Historian feature
Elizabeth King’s Miracles and Machines (2023) is a vivid, searching account of a small sixteenth-century automaton – a robed figure, nicknamed ‘the monk’ – that walks, beats its breast, turns its head, and appears to pray. Co-authored with clockmaker David Todd, the book is at once a material history of an extraordinary...
In conversation with Elizabeth King
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Ancient Athenian inscriptions in public and private UK collections
Historian article
Peter Liddel introduces us to a rich source of historical information and encourages us to make some purposeful visits to museums.
From the seventeenth to the mid nineteenth century, travellers from the UK explored the Mediterranean lands of ancient civilisations in search of trophies that demonstrated the achievements of the classical world. Highly...
Ancient Athenian inscriptions in public and private UK collections
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Archaeology on the edge
Historian article
Major archaeological projects can be complex affairs, in terms of their funding, governance and the wide range of historical and technological expertise they require. Here National Trust archaeologist Kathy Laws describes the intricacies and successes of a multi-organisational project at an Iron Age site in north Wales. The challenges of the...
Archaeology on the edge
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When was the post-war?
Article
There is a peculiar tension at the heart of scholarship about the years and decades after the Second World War. On the one hand, the political developments following the breakdown of the war-time alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union have spawned an enormous literature, in parts as old...
When was the post-war?
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Sophisticated living in sub-Roman Britain
Historian article
It has been assumed for a long time that sub-Roman Britain, the period between the Romans leaving the island in the early fifth century and the settlement of the Anglo-Saxons in the sixth century, was a period of rapid cultural and economic decline. Recent archaeological discoveries at Chedworth Villa in...
Sophisticated living in sub-Roman Britain
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Real Lives: Colonel James Skinner
Historian feature
The story of the British in India is a complex one and further nuances are provided by the existence of several ‘Eurasians’ who had both British and Indian heritage. Here Arunansh Goswami reflects on the life and achievements of one of these, James Skinner, who had a Scottish father and an Indian...
Real Lives: Colonel James Skinner
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Podcast: Medlicott Lecture 2018 - Justin Champion
Defacing the Past or Resisting Oppression?
Podcast: Medlicott Lecture 2018 - Justin Champion
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Show and Tell: three Branch book events
Historian article
When members of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Branch were invited to share their views on ‘Books that Changed History’, not all the contributions were as overtly revolutionary as Thomas Paine’s Common Sense nor as familiar as the King James Bible. Marie Davidson and Richard Binns tell us more....
Show and Tell: three Branch book events
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The circle of Ulster literary male friendships of author Forrest Reid
Historian article
Eminent Ulster novelist Forrest Reid was a complex character, reflecting a variety of attitudes in both his writing and his private life. In this article Michael Kelly examines how Reid and his circle of friends aimed to navigate their way through the changes of the early twentieth century, in both...
The circle of Ulster literary male friendships of author Forrest Reid
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White City: the world’s first Olympic Stadium
Historian article
The modern Olympic Games were first held in 1896, but it was not until their fourth edition, held in London 1908, that they had a purpose-built stadium as their sporting and ceremonial heart. This article by Martin Polley explores the history of that stadium – White City. As well as...
White City: the world’s first Olympic Stadium
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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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My Favourite History Place: A Short History of Brill
Historian feature
In this article Josephine Glover discusses the long history of her ‘favourite history place’, the Buckinghamshire village of Brill. She explains how there has been a human settlement there since Mesolithic times. Using various fragments of evidence, she pieces together the extent to which the village was important to early...
My Favourite History Place: A Short History of Brill
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My Favourite History Place: The Holburne Museum
Historian feature
Jane A. Mills describes in this article how the fascination of Holburne Museum in Bath comes partly from the historical objects on display but also from the varied history of the building itself. She explains how the recent development of the museum illustrates the ongoing issue of trying to resolve...
My Favourite History Place: The Holburne Museum
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The portrayal of historians in fiction: people on the edge?
Historian article
In novels featuring history teachers and lecturers, the main characters are usually male, unmarried and with poor mental health. This article provides a rough classification of the different types of pathology displayed, and suggests why this characterisation might be the case.
Of all the texts, Graham Swift’s Waterland (1983) is...
The portrayal of historians in fiction: people on the edge?
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Real Lives: Charlie Mitchell, Tuke's top model
Historian feature
Our series ‘Real Lives’ seeks to put the story of the ordinary person into our great historical narrative. We are all part of the rich fabric of the communities in which we live and we are affected to greater and lesser degrees by the big events that happen on a daily...
Real Lives: Charlie Mitchell, Tuke's top model
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The emergence of the first civilisations
Historian article
Paul Bracey – The emergence of civilisations provided fundamental changes in the capacity for human development. This said, they exhibited similarities, differences, frailties, negative and positive attributes and should be related to a broadly based appreciation of the past.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the assumption was that...
The emergence of the first civilisations
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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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Evelyn Waugh’s books on the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935–36
Historian article
Philip Woods discusses Evelyn Waugh’s contribution to understanding the nature of journalism before the Second World War.
This article compares the value to historians of the two books Evelyn Waugh wrote based on his experiences as a war correspondent covering the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935–36. The popular satiric novel Scoop (1938) is...
Evelyn Waugh’s books on the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935–36
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Film: Social & Cultural Change
Film series: Power and authority in Germany, 1871-1991
How did a new Germany rebuild itself from the legacy of the Second World War both physically, emotionally and culturally? Professor Stibbe explores the silences of many households and how that influenced the student rebellion of the late 1960s. He also puts into perspective the cultural impact that the war...
Film: Social & Cultural Change
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Tourism: the birth and death of the little Welsh town?
Historian article
Millie Punshon is a sixth form student in North Wales and was one of this year's finalists in the HA's Great Debate public speaking competition.
It is no unknown fact that the Victorian city-slickers adored the north coast of Wales, and without them towns such as Llandudno, Beaumaris, and Betws-y-Coed may not have...
Tourism: the birth and death of the little Welsh town?
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Out and About on Uzbekistan’s Silk Road
Historian feature
“For lust of knowing what should not be known— We make the Golden Journey to Samarkand.”
So wrote poet James Elroy Flecker in 1913, who had perhaps an unduly romantic view of what motivated many of Uzbekistan’s earlier visitors. A more realistic explanation was proffered in the thirteenth century by the Persian...
Out and About on Uzbekistan’s Silk Road
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The Wolfson Prize for History at 50
Historian article
It is not just HM The Queen that is having a significant anniversary this year. Other events also reached significant milestones. In this article we trace the important breadth of the Wolfson Prize For History.
Recent announcements seem to indicate that book prizes are being cut or stopped in many...
The Wolfson Prize for History at 50
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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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History Abridged: the Acropolis
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
The Acropolis of Athens is...
History Abridged: the Acropolis
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History Abridged: Balmoral
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
Royal majesty is buttressed by...
History Abridged: Balmoral
