The Wars of the Roses were a series of wars fought in 15th century England between two rival factions of the royal Plantagenet house until the ascension of the Tudor house with Henry VII in 1485. It was during the Wars of the Roses that the bloodiest and biggest battle on English soil was fought: […]
Boudica was the Celtic warrior queen, most known for leading a rebellion against the Romans. She was one of the first individuals documented in British history, and her legacy inspired hundreds of feminist campaigners. Boudica was a member of the Iceni tribe, yet Romans used the death of her husband, King Prasutagus, to steal land […]
Lad culture is one of the hot social topics of the moment, with a multitude of (other) university’s societies and sports clubs being criticised due to inappropriate and sexist behaviour. Laura Robinson explores the alternative side of the chivalric knight as the medieval version of the modern lad. Such conditions worried the early Victorian state […]
Such conditions worried the early Victorian state immensely. Emerging social research confirmed that the environment as well as the physical and moral habits of a locality’s inhabitants stimulated disease and ensured its spread. The belief proliferated that sexual debauchery was at once a product of material squalor and a causal factor in the decline of […]
The Didsbury Beer Festival was a three-day event, celebrating the beers, ales, perries and ciders from independent breweries throughout Britain. Returning for its fifth year the Festival has expanded both in capacity and the range of drinks on offer. It was hosted by St Catherine’s Social Club, which also provided a wide range of music […]
In 1968 there were 55,000 men employed at Ford Motor Company’s Dagenham Factory and only 187 women. These female machinists were informed that their job had been degraded to ‘unskilled’ work resulting in reduced pay. Consequently, the women went out on strike demanding, quite rightly, their grading be changed, and that they be given the […]
We are in the TIMES UP Era. A feeling of disgust and betrayal, but also that of hope and catharsis has been prevalent throughout Hollywood these past few months. We are in the merciless contemporary of ‘The Weinstein Effect’, unforgiving of abusers and their enablers. Harvey Weinstein, front runner of The Weinstein Company and […]
When we think of the Flapper we think of Gatsby, champagne, cropped hair and extravagant parties. Behind this image was in fact a deeply symbolic figure of the cultural and social changes that took place in 1920s and 30s Britain. A major product of this disordered era, Flapper culture was one which transgressed notions of […]
When talking about war between Britain and the USA, most people think of the American War of Independence at the end of the eighteenth century. Many are not aware that Britain and the USAwent to war just over thirty years later in what would simply become known as the War of 1812. The origins […]
Modern day experts look at the past in an attempt to understand the present. The eruption of Pompeii is one of classical civilisation’s most documented events. This article uncovers the secret sexuality embedded in Roman society.
“Four score and seven years ago…” So began one of the most iconic speeches in modern history, spoken by the President who led the USA through the horrors of the Civil War and ended the legal practice of slavery. You can’t deny it, Abraham Lincoln is everywhere in the USA from the colossal Lincoln Memorial, […]
The practice of castration dates way back to before recorded human history, and has been used by various societies for mainly religious and social reasons ever since. Many countries are familiar with cases of castration but in particular, countries in Southern and Eastern Asia, as well as Africa. Both female and male castrations have been […]
Manchester’s continual architectural and cultural makeover has offered a few surprises over the past decade (the controversial design of the Hilton Tower splitting Mancunian opinion in particular) yet whilst that particular building has proved divisive, the redevelopment of The People’s History Museum (PHA) has received a far more positive reaction from the public. Manchester has […]
The region occupied by the people of Israel and Palestine has seen more than a thousand years of bloodshed. Modern conflict follows a long line of violent history. Historically the state now known as Israel was located along the lucrative Silk Road from China, what Samuel P. Huntington would describe as the ‘cultural edge’ or […]
