The Gaelic revival refers to the revival of interest in the Irish language and Irish Gaelic culture. While this broad movement emerged as early as the 1840s, it rapidly gained traction in the late nineteenth century. A variety of organisations espoused this revival, for example by promoting Gaelic literature or traditional sports. The Gaelic League, […]
Nowadays, Britain looks on as a plethora of religions, ethnicities and cultures celebrate their traditions in this now-diverse nation. But why is it that we don’t have our own? The first point of blame might be colonialism. British fashion, for example, was spread worldwide, carried overseas by explorers to the Americas and Asia. We have […]
On November 9th, 1989, Gunter Schabowski was in a press conference. He was the unofficial press officer for the new East German Government led by Egon Krenz, who had replaced the ailing tyrant, Erich Honecker. Reading from a note that he had not long received, and did not fully understand, Schabowski announced that GDR citizens […]
160 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln sent a letter to the ‘working men of Manchester’, acknowledging their ‘sublime Christian heroism, which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country’. These words are now memorialised at the foot of the Lincoln statue, sculpted by George Grey Bernard, which stands in recently-remodelled Lincoln Square […]
HS2 phase 2 is the high-speed train line that will connect Manchester and Leeds to Birmingham and on to London. Promoted as an attempt to bring ‘the UK’s Victorian railway infrastructure dramatically into the 21st Century,’ the Government expects to spend billions in a plan set to transform North-South transport infrastructure, encourage business, boost employment […]
The Mongol Empire was one of the largest empires in the history of the world, covering a massive nine million square miles at its greatest extent; approximately a quarter of the world’s population were under Mongol rule. One man in particular is credited with this awesome feat of conquest: Genghis Khan. Born Temujin in around […]
On October 16th 1793, a widow and mother-of-four died. Her hair allegedly turned white overnight from the stress of anticipating her execution. Two weeks prior she had lost her son and heir, Louis-Joseph, at age 7. She was on trial for treason and theft, alongside a false charge alleging sexual abuse against her youngest son […]
The canvas on which tattooing is etched on may only be skin deep, but the history of this art form goes much deeper. If, like me, you have partaken in the joy of the needle (having a professional doodler draw upon your skin not, I hasten to add, drugs) we are participating in a social […]
Many things have been said about EuropeanMedieval civilizations. A traditional notion describes the downfall of European civilization when the Romans left and northern Europe slipped down in a dark age. The dark times of competing warlords and looting barbarians were seen asdestroying all Roman progress,setting most of Europe back nearly one thousand years. The medieval […]
Cartography in the iconography of British imperialism portrayed the visual culture of the British Empire. The Empire came to cover huge swathes of territory and from the nineteenth century onwards, Commonwealth countries were coloured pink on maps. Pink was a printer’s compromise for letters overprinted to be clearly read, as the colour that was traditionally […]
Recently, the ‘I, too, am’ photo campaign against racial prejudice on university campuses has swept the country. Originating at Harvard University, it sparked further campaigns in Oxford and Cambridge where students of ethnic minorities write down everyday racist comments they have experienced at university. These comments may be perceived as innocent and harmless, but in […]
This month marks the 100-year anniversary of the October Revolution. Dane Massey interviewed Peter Gatrell – a scholar of Russian history, to get his thoughts on the event. Dane Massey: October 25th marks the centenary of the Bolshevik coup of Russia in the 1917 October Revolution. How did the event change the shape of […]
In 2017, the Declaration on the Common Language was signed. It marks a culmination of attempts to counter nationalistic factions in the Western Balkans and a move towards a discussion of language, independent of nationalist tendencies. Language politics has been an important factor in the creation of the new national identities which have emerged out […]
What do Björk, Massive Attack and Neil Young have in common? Despite the temptation to reply, people I’ve cried to in the car (looking at you middle-aged men still stuck in the hacienda), it might surprise you that each act has been part of a larger global effort to fight climate change with music. In […]
