Mass migrations represent some of the greatest examples of human travel in history and their ebbs and flows have helped shape the world as we know it. In a modern context of increased migration towards the United States and Europe from under-developed nations, it is important to look back at other great migrations that have […]
In the 1840s Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford had an idea that would revolutionise British culture and invented a national institution all because she was hungry. It was customary for the elite of the time to eat just two meals a day but the Duchess felt that she could not go the twelve or so […]
Your family has a well-document interest and passion for history and politics, was conversation around the dinner table dominated by these topics when you were growing up? The conversation at the table was very historical, very political. My mum’s a journalist, my aunt is Margaret McMillan who’s the head of St. Anthony’s College, she’s a […]
Which movement involved a regal robe, a bicycle and milk? The Temperance movement, of course. The People’s History Museum, located in Manchester’s old pump house, accommodates this exhibition now in its final few months. Midweek the museum is rather empty, so the demography of the few visitors wandering around while I was there was limited […]
“The Floating World” refers to the pleasure-seeking, urban lifestyle of the Edo period of Japan (1600-1868). This period of relative stability under Tokugawa Shogunate was one of prolific cultural output, especially in large cities such as the capital, Edo, which is now Tokyo. Haiku poetry found increased popularity during this period, propagated by master poets […]
When the Spanish colonized Ecuador in 1531 it began a rule of Catholicism, defining the figure of women as pure and virginal, and certainly in no condition to vote. Two incredibly important women: Matilde Hidalgo de Procel and Dolores Cacuango, born just 8 years apart, fought for the rights of women and indigenous people to […]
The tale of the two lovers, Heloise and Abelard, and their scandalous affair has incited an exodus of literature, music and art. Hailing from 12th century Paris, both Heloise and Abelard were highly gifted intellectuals, well versed in philosophy and theology. Heloise was a pupil of Abelard who was twenty years her senior, she is […]
On the 3rd of June 1968, Valerie Solanas entered the Decker Building in New York City and fired a single bullet through the body of the famed artist, Andy Warhol. When questioned by journalists as to why she committed such an act, her response was ‘Read my manifesto and it will tell you what I […]
Often neglected from the histories of Manchester are the stories of its founding communities: the tales of those that inhabited and powered the bustling industrial centre. Among these were the Italians of Ancoats, their ‘hidden history’ a tale of cultural significance, yet also of hardship and rejection. After the slum clearances of the 1960s, the […]
Since the birth of the modern Olympics, Great Britain has played its role consistently in the movement. It has competed in every Summer Olympics since 1896 and is the only team to have won a gold medal in every single Summer Olympics. To add to these laurels, London is now the only city to have […]
One could easily be forgiven for confusing the recent events in the Ukraine with the plot of a John le Carré novel published long ago. It’s fair to say that, in this day and age, we are inclined to look back on the Cold War era as a very different time. Our parents’ generation may […]
On 18 April 2017 Theresa May declared there would be a General Election held on 8 June. This shocked the nation, because on 20 March, Mrs May’s spokesperson firmly said “there isn’t going to be one. It isn’t going to happen. There is not going to be a general election.” Theresa May became leader of […]
The Marxist economic historian Eric Hobsbawm, who has died aged 95, was regarded internationally as one of most the prominent British historians, his works being number one on the reading list for every student with an interest in modern history. Born in 1917, Hobsbawm grew up in Egypt, Vienna and Berlin, where he witnessed the […]
If you want to understand part of why the Middle East is such a volatile region today, a good place to start finding answers is the partitioning of the region between 1918 and 1920. The Allies defeated the Ottoman Empire in WWI, and needed to decide what would happen to areas previously under Ottoman control. […]