Ned Rodger writes a potted history of the March on Rome and the events that led to Mussolini in power. The death of Venezuela’s longstanding and out outspoken Hugo Chávez has led academics and analysts including historians, to attempt to come to terms with how far the polarising president fulfilled the manifesto of his Bolívarian […]
The French colony of Saint-Domingue (contemporary Haiti) was heralded as ‘the Pearl of the Antilles’, the slave-driven sugar economy making it the richest of the French colonies and a central component in France’s imperial vision. Today, freedom of speech and action is seen as being central to western democracy. Yet, despite being one of the […]
English tank captured by Germans, photograph taken by civilian near Hindenburg line, 1919. Amputees on a cigarette break, 1918. Wounded American soldiers enjoying weaving at the ‘Walter Reed Hospital’ Washington D.C, 1918. Americans wearing new gas masks, 1917. David Lloyd George and ‘The Big Four’, Paris Peace Conference 1919. The iconic and largely reproduced Lord […]
As department stores, supermarkets and other retailers grapple for the best Christmas advert, Alex Hulmes looks back to the original form of marketing at Christmas time: the shop window. A medieval Christmas had both religious and pagan elements. James Brannan explores how Cristes Maesse was celebrated, referring to carolling, gift giving, and feasting. While Christmas […]
With International Women’s Day having just passed, it seems appropriate to pay homage to one of the most famous heroines in history, Joan of Arc. The Maid of Orléans, as she became known after her courageous involvement in the Hundred Years’ War, will forever be one of the most revered female figures to walk European […]
The look of confusion and astonishment on the locals isn’t surprising. They are greeted with the sight of men on horseback moving slowly up the main road, dressed from head to toe in First World War army uniforms. For some of the onlookers it is almost as if they have been transported back one hundred […]
The commercialisation of Christmas is often lamented as one of the great tragedies of the twentieth century. Michael Cass and James Eatwell examine where this process began and follow it through to the present day. Peer Mentoring Student Coordinator Sophie Praill gives some advice on revision and exams- no rest for the wicked! History President […]
James Eatwell, History Society president writes his final report for the Society this year, and announces the new team. Didn’t make it to Amsterdam with the History Society? Michael Cass reveals all. Alex Byrom reviews Michael Wood ‘in conversation’ with Tristram Hunt MP. Peer Mentoring Student Coordinator Sophie Praill gives some advice on beginning a […]
At the dawn of Stalin’s rule, the Soviet state envisaged a new, unwaveringly socialist Central Asia. The Uzbekistan Communist Party declared a hujum (assault) in Central Asia that attacked Muslim women’s practice of veiling their faces in late 1926. The party alleged this proposal was launched to free women and create a more equal society […]
Research on displaced populations across international borders has gained a lot of attention in recent decades, but research on internal displacement has been overlooked. The hidden narratives of Manchester’s slum clearance in the 1960s remain to be revealed, along with the entire neighbourhoods that were uprooted from their homes. Little is known about what happened […]
The study of the persecution of witches is not a new idea – the almost morbid fascination with women’s persecution in the form of witch trials has permeated our imaginations for decades. Indeed, the image of the witch has long been a figure of literature and art: from folkloric tales, to modern day films. Yet […]
“Winner writes history”. This simple phrase simplifies the complex narrative of history, particularly in the context of conflict. Today, it would take only a cursory search online to find examples of ‘losers.’ Why does this age-old saying persist? As is evident by the qualifying terms of ‘winner’ and ‘loser,’ history is entirely biased no matter […]
During the early to mid-20th century, five million African-Americans made the passage from the former slave-holding south to the industrialised cities of the north and west United States. Cruel Jim Crow laws and tough financial situations forced families to move hundreds of miles to states such as New York, Illinois and Michigan, where demand for […]
As a character in Genesis, Eve’s entire existence is explored in relation to man, whether that be as a wife or a mother. As the first woman, there is a notion that she is the mother of all humans, the pinnacle of woman. We all enjoy eating excessively at Christmas but did you know that […]