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Building St James's spire: Louth's guilds and popular piety in the later middle ages
Virtual Branch Lecture Recording
Medieval historian Dr Claire Kennan continued our Virtual Branch series with a local history talk on the building of St James's spire, Louth.
In her talk Kennan traces the important role that Louth's major guilds of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Holy Trinity played in the building of the St James’s spire. Throughout the...
Building St James's spire: Louth's guilds and popular piety in the later middle ages
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Recorded webinar: Why study history?
Webinar recording
The importance of historical understanding might seem self-evident at a time when statues are toppled and demonstrators are protesting against current manifestations of age-old wrongs. Yet history in schools and universities is often compared unfavourably with STEM subjects, which are depicted as more rigorous, useful and valuable in the workplace....
Recorded webinar: Why study history?
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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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Revising the Elizabethans at GCSE
Podcast revision guide
In this update to his podcast series, Andy Harmsworth offers some advice and suggestions to help you when revising the Elizabethans for the GCSE 9-1 History Exam. This podcast is suitable for students studying the Elizabethans with any examination board. Andy taught history in Kent for over 30 years with particular...
Revising the Elizabethans at GCSE
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Film: Lenin and the Russian Civil War
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
Revolution is never simple. Lenin and the Bolsheviks quickly found that not everyone in Russia or outside of it approved of their new radical agenda. Russia was plunged into a civil war of devastating circumstances. How would its new leader manage and how much were the needs of the people...
Film: Lenin and the Russian Civil War
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Historical Diary: An Eighteenth-Century Gap Year
Historian article
Historical diaries written by children are rare and only seven from England and the United States written before 1800 are known to have survived. One of these, found tucked away in the London Metropolitan Archive, is the diary of William Hugh Burgess, a fifteen year-old boy who grew up in...
Historical Diary: An Eighteenth-Century Gap Year
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Age of Revolutions Resources
Information
The Age of Revolutions is a period in history between c.1775-1848. Over the course of these years, society underwent a series of revolutions in almost all theatres of life: political, war, social and cultural, and economic and technological. Revolutionary ideas and revolutionary actions swept across the world, and historians still discuss and...
Age of Revolutions Resources
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Film: The Making of Early England 500-1066
Virtual Branch Lecture Recording
In this Virtual Branch lecture Michael Wood returns to his popular territory of Early England 500-1066 using the lives of specific stories and individuals to cast light on the period. This lecture was recorded on the 9 July 2020 as part of the HA Virtual Branch and is available to all...
Film: The Making of Early England 500-1066
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The Origins of Mass Society: Speech, Sex and Drink in Urbanising Britain, 1780-1870
Virtual Branch Lecture Recording
Professor Peter Mandler is the current president of the Historical Association. As part of our 'presidents season' for the HA Virtual Branch he gave a fascinating talk on The Origins of Mass Society: Speech, Sex and Drink in Urbanising Britain, 1780-1870.
In this talk he explores the impact of the changes in...
The Origins of Mass Society: Speech, Sex and Drink in Urbanising Britain, 1780-1870
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Ancient Egypt - The New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC)
Podcast
The New Kingdom was the ancient Egyptian nation between the 16th and 11th centuries BC. This period covers the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties.
The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period.
In this podcast Professor Emeritus John Baines, University of Oxford, looks at the changes and continuities between the Old, Middle and...
Ancient Egypt - The New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC)
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Ancient Egypt - The Land of Punt
Podcast
In this podcast Professor Emeritus John Baines, University of Oxford, provides an introduction to the Land of Punt.
The Land of Punt was an ancient region known from Ancient Egyptian records. It exported gold, aromatic resins, blackwood, ebony, ivory and wild animals, some of them perhaps traded from elsewhere. Recent...
Ancient Egypt - The Land of Punt
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Ancient Egypt - The Middle Kingdom (2181-1650 BC)
Podcast
In this podcast Professor Emeritus John Baines, University of Oxford, provides an introduction to the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–1650 BC) which followed the decline of the Old Kingdom, and discusses the history of Egypt's Middle Kingdom.
The Middle Kingdom lasted from approximately 2040 to 1700 BC, stretching from the...
Ancient Egypt - The Middle Kingdom (2181-1650 BC)
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Recorded webinar: Virtual History Forum: Reigning over change
Article
These three recordings are taken from the Virtual History Forum which took place in March 2022 and focused on change over the last 70 years.
2022 marked the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. This is an unprecedented occasion in our history. The last 70 years have seen both continuities and...
Recorded webinar: Virtual History Forum: Reigning over change
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Medieval 'Signs and Marvels'
Historian article
Medieval ‘Signs and Marvels': insights into medieval ideas about nature and the cosmic order.
Many aspects of life in the Middle Ages puzzle the modern reader but some are stranger than others. What can possibly explain an event reported from Orford Castle, in Suffolk? This is an amazing tale and...
Medieval 'Signs and Marvels'
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Out and About in Madagascar
Historian feature
Madagascar is one of the world’s more intriguing destinations. If it is famous for anything – apart from sharing a name with a truly terrible film franchise – it is probably for its wildlife, much of which is found nowhere else. But whereas most people have at least an idea of...
Out and About in Madagascar
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British Empire
Selected Articles and Resources
A selection of publications that link to the British Empire. See also our two podcast series The British Empire 1600-1800 and The British Empire 1800-present.
A Commercial Revolution: the rise of a trading empire (Classic pamphlet by Ralph Davis) The pattern of overseas trade is always in movement: new commodities are constantly appearing,...
British Empire
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Great Debate Final 2025
14th April 2025
Winner:
Quinn Scott – Chesterton Community College, Cambridge
Runners up:
Anya Bensouiah – Kendrick School, Reading
Fred Bosley – The King’s School, Canterbury
Aimee Nelson – Bablake School, Coventry
Finalists:
Emily Tweddle, Earlston High School, Scottish Borders
Hannah Brearton, Upton Hall, Oxford
Rosie Thomson, The Maynard School, Exeter
Isabella Passarelli, Torquay Girls Grammar School,...
Great Debate Final 2025
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Radicalism and its Results, 1760-1837
Classic Pamphlet
Radicalism with a large "R", unlike Conservatism with a large "C" and Liberalism with a large "L", is not a historical term of even proximate precision. There was never a Radical Party with a national organization, local associations, or a treasury. But there were, and there are, "Radicals", generally qualified...
Radicalism and its Results, 1760-1837
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Historical Fiction: warts and all
Historian article
The perception is that, for historical fiction, this is the best of times. It has never been more popular: witness the 2012 Christmas day schedule-jostling between Downton Abbey and Call the Midwife. It has never been more literary: witness Hilary Mantel winning her second Man Booker prize for Bring Up the...
Historical Fiction: warts and all
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What to expect when you choose to study History at University
A student's guide from personal experience to challenges you may have to face
Challenges you may have to face include:
No comprehensive text
This resource is free to everyone. For access to a wealth of other online resources from podcasts to articles and publications, plus support and advice though our “How To”, examination and transition to university guides and careers resources, join the...
What to expect when you choose to study History at University
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World War 1 Literature
GCSE Topic Pack
The Social and Political Climate in Britain before the Great War
This resource is free to everyone. For access to a wealth of other online resources from podcasts to articles and publications, plus support and advice though our “How To”, examination and transition to university guides and careers resources, join...
World War 1 Literature
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What is a Synoptic Essay and How Do I Write One?
Student Guides
This resource is free to everyone. For access to a wealth of other online resources from podcasts to articles and publications, plus support and advice though our “How To”, examination and transition to university guides and careers resources, join the Historical Association today
Part of the A-Level History course now...
What is a Synoptic Essay and How Do I Write One?
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HA Young Voices
Listening to young people's voices about school history
As part of our strategy, the HA wants to establish mechanisms to listen to young people’s views about their experience of school history. So far we have gathered peer research from pupils in 15 different secondary schools across the country.
Students were asked to carry out research among their peers....
HA Young Voices
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Puritan attitudes towards plays and pleasure in the Age of Shakespeare
Presidential Lecture - Annual Conference 2014
In Twelfth Night Shakespeare gently mocked the Puritans, who objected to stage plays and other entertainments. Yet within four decades, the Puritans had closed the London theatres and were about to seize power from Charles I. Among their many reforms were the banning of Christmas celebrations and of Twelfth Night itself....
Puritan attitudes towards plays and pleasure in the Age of Shakespeare
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Peterloo: HA interview with Mike Leigh and Jacqueline Riding
Article
The film Peterloo dramatises the people and events that led to the infamous ‘Peterloo’ massacre in August 1819. Respected film-maker Mike Leigh created the film using historical records and sources from the period, as he and historical adviser Jacqueline Riding explained to the HA in a recent interview, which you can watch below.
Peterloo: HA interview with Mike Leigh and Jacqueline Riding
