History

Niall Ferguson certainly thinks so, but will following his lead be detrimental to the teaching of history in schools today? A look at Niall Ferguson’s groundbreaking documentary series on financial history.

Ed Miliband’s recent Conference Speech was met with great acclaim for its ambitious and surprising declaration of a “One Nation” Labour Party. It was undoubtedly a brave and rousing message, but the proposal of “One Nation” is nothing new.The concept originated with a Conservative Prime Minister speaking 140 years earlier, yards from where Miliband himself […]

We’re a good few months into life at University now, hopefully you’re starting to feel much more settled in and have made lots of new friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately now is the time when many of your first deadlines are looming. Perhaps you’ve already had a couple of smaller assignments due but now it’s time […]

1928 in 10 Pictures The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris by 60 countries including France, Germany and the United States. The signatories agreed not to use war to resolve disputes. Countries began to wage war without declaring it instead.  (Wikimedia Commons)   Emelia Earhart greeting the Mayor of Southampton after becoming the first woman […]

Napoleon’s military career is somewhat proliferated by the Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, in December 1805, in which Napoleon’s cunning and masterful allure saw the crushing defeat of Austria’s army and ultimately led to the end of the Third Coalition and the signing of the Treaty of Pressburg. […]

Welcome to the first instalment of the Manchester Historian Podcast. In this episode, we spoke to editors of the magazine for the 2018/19 year, Laura Ali and Will Kerrs. We discussed everything from what led them to get involved in the magazine, to the processes they go through to getting the magazine to publish, the […]

As the run-up to the 2024 UK general election begins in earnest, it is likely that we will see a rapid increase in hysteria surrounding Chinese and Russian interference in Britain’s electoral process. However, there is no doubt that the majority of this discourse will fail to connect this meddling with Britain’s own historical involvement […]

If you have been keeping up with current affairs recently it will have been hard to miss the frequent reports on the atrocities being committed in vast swathes of Syria and Iraq, by a group tagged ISIS. But who are ISIS and what are their origins? In this short piece I will try to shed […]

It’s a story made for Hollywood: one shy younger prince, another playboy-like elder brother. Throw in a social climbing American divorcee, an abdication crisis and a war that would test a nation and its reluctant new monarch to the edge, it’s not difficult to see how The King’s Speech won this year’s Best Film Oscar. […]

In the past 20 years, the influx of migrants to the UK has been steadily rising. Figures show that in the last 5 years alone, net long-term migration to the UK was predicted to be roughly 1 million. But has this helped, or hindered our economy? Typically, those who are immigrating to the UK tend […]

For many, the idea of government surveillance immediately sparks thoughts of vicious and opaque attacks on citizens during the Cold War, particularly in the Soviet Union and throughout the rest of the Eastern Bloc. However, I want to consider the significance of secret police as a wider topic and gain an understanding of the broad […]

This famous Chinese fable tells the tale of an old man who decided to dig through a mountain that blocked his path. Others called it a fool’s errand, but Heaven was impressed by his perseverance and moved the mountains to form a road. In the late 4th century BC, King Huiwen of Qin wanted to […]

At the end of the 1960s, the world was witnessing one of the most volatile moments in American history. Accelerated by the unrest caused by the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, many movements had found support and power to rebel against America. Edward Carpenter was born in 1844 in Brighton to a middle-class naval family. He […]

The year is 1471, and sitting in the middle of Germany’s Romantic Road is a tranquil village – Nördlingen. Yet, like most German towns, Nördlingen was home to a licensed brothel. The brothel wasn’t just the home of 12 prostitutes, it was of substantial economic value. The revenue the brothel generated provided the authorities with […]