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Found 126 results matching 'brief history' within Historian > Themes > Culture   (Clear filter)

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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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Dr Joseph Parry: the story of Wales’ greatest composer

      Historian article
    Colin Wheldon James introduces us to a 19th-century Welsh composer who deserves far greater recognition for his achievements in Wales as well as in England and America.
    Dr Joseph Parry: the story of Wales’ greatest composer

  • Losing sight of the bigger picture: public policy and the visual arts

      Historian article
    From the 1940s to the late twentieth century, the visual arts in England were promoted and encouraged in a variety of ways by politicians and other policymakers, at both national and local level. Recent decades have seen a marginalisation of the arts, particularly in education. In this article Pauline Wood...
    Losing sight of the bigger picture: public policy and the visual arts

  • Out and About: Leavesden Country Park

      Historian feature
    Concerns about demobilised soldiers after the Second World War were widespread, reflecting both the practical challenges faced by returning servicemen and broader anxieties about their reintegration into civilian life. In this article, Helen George explores how a temporary education facility in Hertfordshire helped prepare demobilised Canadian soldiers for higher education...
    Out and About: Leavesden Country Park

  • Kangxi and Louis XIV

      Historian article
    Recently the French and Chinese governments have joined together in a nostalgic reflection on cultural interactions between King Louis XIV and Emperor Kangxi in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. As Sean Heath explains here, these modern reflections are particularly interesting for an aspect of the relationship which they...
    Kangxi and Louis XIV

  • Charles I in objects and architecture

      Historian article
    We asked some of Britain’s leading museums and archives what object in their collections best exemplifies the reign of Charles I and why. Join Alden Gregory, Jessica Evershed, Mike Webb, Denise Greany, Glyn Hughes and Kevin Winter as they discuss some prominent objects and places in their collections and the...
    Charles I in objects and architecture

  • The Ancient Kingdom of Nabataea

      Historian article
    The Kingdom of Nabataea was an important independent entity in the Arabian desert from the third century B.C. to the early second century A.D. Written records are very sparse, so historians need to draw their conclusions from surviving buildings, archaeological excavations and a study of coins. Here Tom Dunstan analyses the extent to which...
    The Ancient Kingdom of Nabataea

  • 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

  • Images of Ukraine through western lenses

      Historian article
    How has the understanding of what Ukraine is and, therefore, its image changed through the centuries? What did the word ‘Ukraine’ mean in the Middle Ages, the early modern times, or in the twentieth century? Even during the last four decades, this image has transformed dramatically, and the first association...
    Images of Ukraine through western lenses

  • In conversation with Ulinka Rublack

      Historian feature
    The Historian discusses with Ulinka Rublack her latest book, Dürer’s Lost Masterpiece: Art and Society at the Dawn of a Global World (2023), which takes a fresh look at this major Renaissance artist, telling the story of his life and times, and reassessing some of his best-known works...
    In conversation with Ulinka Rublack

  • Living on the Silk Roads: Voices from Dunhuang

      Historian article
    In Autumn 2024, the British Library will mount an exhibition exploring the stories of the people who inhabited or passed through the oasis town of Dunhuang during the first millennium. Located in modern-day Gansu province, in northwest China, Dunhuang was originally established as a garrison town and became an important commercial...
    Living on the Silk Roads: Voices from Dunhuang

  • 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

  • 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

  • ‘Since singing is so good a thing’: William Byrd on the benefits of singing

      Historian article
    As the value of music education is again a topic of societal debate, Tudor composer William Byrd, the four hundredth anniversary of whose death is celebrated this year, was a powerful advocate of singing in early modern England, writes Katherine Butler. Tudor composer William Byrd (c.1540–1623) is recognised today not only...
    ‘Since singing is so good a thing’: William Byrd on the benefits of singing

  • A land without music?

      Historian article
    It is sometimes said that England was a ‘land without music’ in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries – not so, according to David Fleming. ‘Between the age of Purcell and that of Elgar and Parry, we had to do without much musical life in our country.’ Or so wrote Simon...
    A land without music?

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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?

  • Out and About in Stockholm

      Historian feature
    When Désirée Clary – wife of French Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte – arrived in Stockholm in 1811, she was appalled. It was true that she would eventually become Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway, her husband having been elected heir-presumptive to the throne the previous year. But she left her new capital...
    Out and About in Stockholm

  • The Great Spa Towns of Europe: a UNESCO World Heritage Site

      Historian article
    Catherine Lloyd introduces us to an international heritage initiative to celebrate ‘spa’ culture. From ancient times, people believed that gods and spirits brought the means of natural healing. Step back in time to imagine an eerie wilderness, a glade in a wood, or a pool by a river, where the snow...
    The Great Spa Towns of Europe: a UNESCO World Heritage Site

  • Petit’s impact on our understanding of Victorian life and culture

      Historian article
    Tiffany Igharoro, a Young Historian Award-winner, introduces us to the artwork of Revd John Louis Petit, showing that art not only reflects the times in which it is created, but can also be used to shape opinions. The Revd John Louis Petit (1801–68) created thousands of paintings in his lifetime, many of which...
    Petit’s impact on our understanding of Victorian life and culture

  • What did it mean to be a city in early modern Germany?

      Historian article
    Alexander Collin examines the significance of cities within the Holy Roman Empire in early modern times. With a strong political identity of their own, cities were at the heart of the Empire’s economy and, also, centres of theological and social change. If you have ever read a description of a...
    What did it mean to be a city in early modern Germany?

  • 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