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Excluded by men? Joanna the Mad, patriarchy and a charge of insanity
Historian article
Glyn Redworth re-appraises the life of an unfortunate queen.
Joanna of Castile was a pretty child. She had an oval face and a long delicate nose. Her skin was felt to be attractively light in colour as was her hair. Fiercely intelligent, the basics of Latin came easily to her....
Excluded by men? Joanna the Mad, patriarchy and a charge of insanity
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Fake news: Psy-war and propaganda in the Indonesian Genocide of 1965-66
Historian article
Geoffrey Robinson explores a little-known episode of the Cold War where half a million people were killed and the Indonesian communist party was destroyed, aided and abetted by the major Western Powers.
Amidst all the talk of fake news and Russian meddling in US politics, it is easy to lose...
Fake news: Psy-war and propaganda in the Indonesian Genocide of 1965-66
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My Favourite History Place: The North Wessex Downs and Cwichelm’s Barrow
Historian feature
My Favourite History Place: The North Wessex Downs and Cwichelm’s Barrow
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Podcast Series: Goths, Huns and the fall of the Roman Empire
Multipage Article
In this series of podcasts Professor Peter Heather of King's College London looks at the history of the Goths, the Huns, the division of the Roman Empire and the fall of the Roman Empire.
Podcast Series: Goths, Huns and the fall of the Roman Empire
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The 'Era of the Dictators' Reconsidered
Article
Kenneth Thomson reflects on major aspects of the ‘era of the dictators’ after the collapse of Soviet Communism and its satellite regimes. In 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, almost the whole of continental Europe was ruled by dictatorships of various political hues. Even countries, like France,...
The 'Era of the Dictators' Reconsidered
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Stalin, Propaganda, and Soviet Society during the Great Terror
Historian article
Sarah Davies explores the evidence that even in the most repressive phases of Stalin’s rule, there existed a flourishing ‘shadow culture’, a lively and efficient unofficial network of information and ideas. 'Today a man only talks freely with his wife — at night, with the blankets pulled over his head.’...
Stalin, Propaganda, and Soviet Society during the Great Terror
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Personality & Power: The individual's role in the history of twentieth-century Europe
Article
What role do individuals wielding great power play in determining significant historical change? And how do historians locate human agency in historical change, and explain it? These are the issues I would like to reflect a little upon here. They are not new problems. But they are inescapable ones for...
Personality & Power: The individual's role in the history of twentieth-century Europe
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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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Film: Brezhnev and Détente
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film Dr Edwin Bacon blanks about the modernisation of the soviet union in the 1960s and 70s under Brezhnev, with some scholars predicting that as the East and West evolved, they would eventually converge as modern developed industrialised societies. The problem with convergence theory is that it didn’t...
Film: Brezhnev and Détente
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Film: Brezhnev's agenda
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film Dr Edwin Bacon talks about Brezhnev’s change in direction and approach after Khruschev, making collective leadership work and the Kosygin reforms. Whilst there were changes from the era of Khruschev, Brezhnev’s response to the Prague Spring in 1968 showed that some things had not changed. The events...
Film: Brezhnev's agenda
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Film: From Khrushchev to Brezhnev
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film Dr Edwin Bacon reflects upon the instability of the Khrushchev era and how Brezhnev positioned himself as the perfect replacement for a Soviet Communist party desperate for stability in the wake of the Cuban missile crisis. Brezhnev would be the first amongst equals looking to move forward...
Film: From Khrushchev to Brezhnev
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Film: Brezhnev's early life and career
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film Dr Edwin Bacon takes us through Brezhnev’s early life and career: his birth in Ukraine in 1906, the opportunities brought by the revolution, his role in the battle of Ukraine and his eventual arrival to the Politburo at the end of the 1950s. Dr Bacon looks at...
Film: Brezhnev's early life and career
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Film: Lenin's legacy
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
With his body was embalmed and building high statues were erected to him Lenin’s memory seemed secured for ever. Yet how did his memory and his actual legacy differ? Did he really set the course for a future better Russia, or were his ideas of revolution better on paper than...
Film: Lenin's legacy
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Film: Lenin's origins
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in 1870. This film takes us through his middle-class origins, how he was radicalised by the world he saw around him, especially following the execution of his brother, and how the future politician and revolutionary developed amongst the extremes of Imperial Russian society.
In...
Film: Lenin's origins
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Film: Khrushchev - Background
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film, Dr Alexander Titov (Queen's University of Belfast), provides a profile of Khrushchev’s background and personality and how these influenced his politics and ideas.
Dr Titov takes us on a journey from Khrushchev's peasant beginnings in Kursk, his rapid rise in the communist party, his role in the purges, to...
Film: Khrushchev - Background
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Film: Yeltsin - Early Life
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film, Dr Edwin Bacon (University of Lincoln) introduces us to the young Boris Yeltsin, a true product of the Stalinist years. He explores how a young Yeltsin caught the eye of the Communist officials, allowing him to work his way up from a civil engineer to the politburo. Dr...
Film: Yeltsin - Early Life
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Films: Mikhail Gorbachev – Interpretations
Film series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
How much of what Russia is today, how its people behave, and how they are perceived is dependent on its history and those that have led it? Was it the first melting pot of the world? Do its broad range of cultural traditions and diversity play a part in its...
Films: Mikhail Gorbachev – Interpretations
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Films: Lenin – Interpretations
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
(Student and corporate secondary members can view these films in our Student Zone)
Two men – Trotsky and Lenin – symbolise the Russian Revolution for most people. While Trotsky came to an icy end in Mexico, Lenin remains an enduring figure in the history of Russia and the history of Communism...
Films: Lenin – Interpretations
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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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Film series: Tudor Royal Authority
Development of Tudor Royal Authority film series
In this film, Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford, discusses provides an overview of how Tudor Royal Authority developed and evolved from the first Tudor King, Henry VII, to the final Tudor Queen, Elizabeth I.
Film series: Tudor Royal Authority
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Filmed Lecture: Medlicott Lecture 2021 - Rana Mitter
How new is Asia’s ‘new era’?
The 2021 Medlicott Medal recipient was Professor Rana Mitter, expert on Modern Chinese history and politics. Professor Mitter's Medlicott lecture was on the subject of ‘How New is Asia’s “new era”?’.
Filmed Lecture: Medlicott Lecture 2021 - Rana Mitter
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New light on Rendlesham
Historian article
New research at a royal palace site close to Sutton Hoo poses fresh questions about the nature of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Christopher Scull and Tom Williamson look at how landscape studies can change our understanding of early English royal rule.
New light on Rendlesham
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Caroline Court Women, 1625–1669
Historian article
Aristocratic women at the court of Queen Henrietta Maria from 1625–69 were integral to court life and actively involved in royal service; in court family networks; in dispensing and seeking patronage; and, in political and religious politics. As Sara J. Wolfson shows, it is important to study women at the apex of power...
Caroline Court Women, 1625–1669
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Film: Ideas and Ideology
Film series: Power and authority in Germany, 1871-1991
Professor Matthew Stibbe assesses some of the contradictory factors at play in East Germany and how that related to the wider Soviet system. He contrasts this with the development of the capitalist system that was being developed in West Germany.
If you're unable to see the film below, please use...
Film: Ideas and Ideology
