History

Whenever anyone imagines the “Wild West” certain images are always conjured up. A heroic gun-toting cowboy (probably John Wayne), a grand stallion, free in the desert plains, delivering justice, saving the girl. These Hollywood visions are increasingly resisted. Historians of the American West are recovering the stories of marginalised groups and individuals, helping us understand […]

Tucked away behind the multi-storey car park of Manchester Royal Infirmary lies the birth of the Suffragette movement: the Pankhurst Centre. Once the home of radical feminist pioneers, the Pankhurst family, the building is now home to the Pankhurst Trust and Manchester Women’s Aid. It would be hard to find a single person in Manchester […]

‘From this day to the ending of the world we in it shall be remembered. We lucky few, we band of brothers. For he who today sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.’ Band of Brothers depicts the history of Easy Company, an American Parachute infantry regiment who fought during the Second World […]

In this episode, Rebecca Bowers spoke to 3rd Year Politics and Modern History student Bria Cotton, on Sino-British Relations in the 19th Century, the topic of her dissertation. Discussing the key features of national memory and identity, Bria explained to us the importance of events such as the Boxer Rebellion and the Opium Wars, and […]

In 500 BC, in a relatively obscure kingdom in Italy, a noblewoman was raped by the son of the king. 2,200 years later, the American Constitution was enshrined into law after the success of the American Revolution. If you believe in the butterfly effect, you may think that the latter might have never happened without […]

In recent years Germany has been presented as the exemplar western liberal democracy. Their recent election saw increased turnout, almost 10% higher than the 2019 UK General Election. Chancellor Merkel’s Conservative CDU/CSU party has led ‘GroKo’ – Grand Coalition governments with the Social Democrats for twelve of the last sixteen years. This coalition between the […]

When the excavation of Pompeii began in earnest in the 18th Century alongside the various wonders uncovered came a number of artefacts that greatly worried the gentleman archeologists. They had uncovered a great number of extraordinary and risqué sexual images, phallic objects ranging from carvings to wind chimes. Many of these items were deemed inappropriate […]

The events leading up to the battle of Gettysburg on the 1st July 1863 were certainly in favour of the Confederate cause. After Charles Lee, the commander of the Confederate forces, was victorious at Chancellorsville he launched a new offensive on the North through Pennsylvania. There were three crucial events in the preliminary stages of […]

According to the University of Manchester, the aims of the Peer Mentoring Scheme are to enhance the quality, quantity, and diversity of student learning within a discipline and involve students as partners in their own learning experience. Furthermore, the scheme can provide further opportunity for the development of intellectual and professional competencies, and to provide […]

Living in the hectic metropolis of Manchester, it’s hard to imagine the bustling streets empty and abandoned, the buildings left to ruin and decay, and complete silence where once was the sound of thousands of people. However there are entire Islands in the world that have been abandoned, now uninhabitable, and buildings which saw thousands […]

On Wednesday 17th April, Manchester University was given the pleasure of listening to Boston College’s Dr. Prasannan Parthasarathi give a talk about his new publication, entitled Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not. In his lecture, Dr. Parthasarathi explains that a lot of the economic divergence literature between these two sections of the Eurasian […]

First, I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone on the Manchester Historian team, all our writers and all other students who have contributed to the magazine. You’ve been a fantastic, hard-working bunch and we couldn’t have put out these issues without you. Secondly, I’d like to thank all the staff in the […]

20,000 Bosnian refugees fled to the quaint, idyllic mountain town of Srebrenica months before the end of the Bosnian war.They should have been safe protected in an area declared ‘peaceful’ by the UN. Instead in July 1995, in the space of three days, 8,000 boys and men, all Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), were rounded up and […]

This article will feature in Issue 38: Language and Culture At what point does a coffin become a reliquary? In 698 A.D., eleven years after his death, St Cuthbert’s body was exhumed and found to be incorrupt. Removed from its subterranean stone sarcophagus in St Peter’s Church, on the monastery island of Lindisfarne, the body […]