The referendum on Scottish independence slated for 2014 is so far generating little interest. The broadsheet media occasionally summons up the resolve to report findings of an august think-tank or the veiled threats of potential apocalypse befalling all of us from politicians on both sides. The level of coverage will no doubt increase dramatically the […]
The Age of Enlightenment was a movement towards reason and rationality in the 18th century in Europe. This movement primarily altered perceptions of politics, philosophy, science, and communications. The Enlightenment advanced ideals of liberty, freedom and equality. This was an extremely progressive movement. Ideas of enlightenment spread through Salons where discussions and debates took place […]
In the west today, charity has become as much about the giver as the recipient. James Green looks at the history of philanthropy and its selfish connotations. 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 […]
We have retold the stories of the Second World War without pause since it drew to a close in 1945. Films are an increasingly important way in which we remember the Second World War. But yet, these films, while engrossing in character and wildly popular, do not always reflect how the Second World War actually […]
Although the most common use of torture throughout history has been as an interrogation technique of law enforcement, the practice has been used in many different ways over the years, with other purposes of torture found in inducing public terror, a means of reform, and most uncommonly, as satisfying sadistic pleasure. During the period of […]
Have you ever done an internet search for ‘terrorist attacks since 9/11? I suspect not. But if you did, as I have to write this piece, you’d be astounded at the number. Dependent upon how you look at them, there have been 25-30 major terrorist attacks in the last 15 years, attributable to Islamic extremism. […]
NASA chemist James Lovelock was trying to seek a way to detect life on distant planets without physically visiting them. Analysing planetary atmospheres, he arrived at a profound realisation about our world. He proposed that life on Earth does not merely exist within its environment but actively shapes and sustains it. The totality of life […]
The story of the Battle of Agincourt follows the age-old narrative of the beloved underdog rising against the odds. A legacy of victory and glory would become synonymous with Henry V after this epic episode in medieval history. An idyllic tale of knights, courage and king; it is recounted even in modern memory, but how […]
NASA chemist James Lovelock was trying to seek a way to detect life on distant planets without physically visiting them. Analysing planetary atmospheres, he arrived at a profound realisation about our world. He proposed that life on Earth does not merely exist within its environment but actively shapes and sustains it. The totality of life […]
If there was to be one defining year in Russian history, it would undoubtedly be the year of 1917. Centuries of imperial rule came crashing down around the final Tsar of Imperial Russia, Nicholas II, in 1917 as a result of great unrest and frustration at the Tsarist regime. The effects of short and long-term […]
To those within the academic sphere, it seems that classical mythology has seen a dramatic rise in popularity amongst the general public, and has never been more influential. Over a period spanning 30 years of conflict, the Vietnam War caused the death of approximately 3 million people, including Vietnamese soldiers, civilians and foreign military. Historically, […]
The Prayer Book rebellion, also referred to as the Western Rising, took place between 6th June and 17th August 1549, in Devon and Cornwall. This was a response to widespread opposition to the authorisation of the Book of Common Prayer in January of the same year.
Many readers will already know of the Rosetta Stone and its monumental impact on history. Discovered during the Napoleonic campaigns in Egypt around the turn of the 19th century, the Stone was taken to England and now rests in the British Museum. Punk’s Do-It-Yourself ethic was transformative. It would be hard to align Punk with […]
From the outset, Sebastian Faulks’s ‘Birdsong’ is a novel of parallels. Parallels between joyous youth and broken youth, love and hatred, peacetime and wartime, past and present. We are introduced to Stephen Wraysford and follow his journey through War and Peace. Faulks’s intense imagery and narration provides the reader with a graphic insight into […]