Since the coalition government came to power in 2010, the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has routinely been surrounded by fierce, and often acrimonious, controversy. In the time since the comprehensivisation of education in the 1960s, few Education Secretaries have courted the kind of controversy that has been created by Gove’s proposals, from the introduction of […]
In the aftermath of the Leveson debate and the heavily publicised phone hacking scandal in 2011, the freedom enjoyed by the British press has been subjected to relentless criticism. Contrastingly, China maintains an iron grip upon the reigns of its media, arguably using censorship to conceal the affairs of government from the public. Does China’s […]
It has been another exciting month for history sport with lots of drama and a few tears. History FC have had a good month so far with comfortable wins against Hulme Hall and the Hindu Society, and have progressed into the next round of both Campus Sport Cups. The game against the Hindu Society was […]
When you think of Manchester, a number of things might spring to mind. Football, rain and Noel Gallagher would be just three examples. However this city is a profoundly historical place and perhaps its greatest gift to the world thus far was the Industrial Revolution. With this reputation in mind then, it seems only fitting […]
On October 16th 1793, a widow and mother-of-four died. Her hair allegedly turned white overnight from the stress of anticipating her execution. Two weeks prior she had lost her son and heir, Louis-Joseph, at age 7. She was on trial for treason and theft, alongside a false charge alleging sexual abuse against her youngest son […]
‘The Age of Discovery’ is a nice name Eurocentric history gives to a period where the European powers took an expansionist approach to their political, economic and cultural objectives from the 15th to 18th centuries. This piece will look at the motives and consequences these European powers. It was imperialism before it had a name, […]
1980s Britain was stamped by Thatcherite politics, unemployment, and a rising pop culture. Alongside this, amidst the climactic conclusion of the Cold War, fears of nuclear attack swept through the British public. In 1981, President Reagan named Greenham Common, Berkshire, as a base for US cruise missiles to be positioned in by 1983, galvanising fear […]
160 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln sent a letter to the ‘working men of Manchester’, acknowledging their ‘sublime Christian heroism, which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country’. These words are now memorialised at the foot of the Lincoln statue, sculpted by George Grey Bernard, which stands in recently-remodelled Lincoln Square […]
At the end of the 1960s, the world was witnessing one of the most volatile moments in American history. Accelerated by the unrest caused by the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, many movements had found support and power to rebel against America. A new level of consciousness had been awakened amongst a generation, creating an atmosphere […]
Despite convincingly winning the UK’s City of Culture 2017 award (sorry Leicester et al.), Hull’s new status was greeted online with widespread shock, derision, and a readiness to stereotype (Google still suggests ‘Worst Places to Live’ when searching for ‘Hull’). A cringe-worthy reference to the Housemartins from David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions prompted further media coverage, and […]
The entertaining juxtaposition of a King and a car park certainly makes for an eye-catching headline, but the discovery of Richard III’s body does not actually provide much, if any, useful information about his personality or his reign. In spite of our better judgement we still fall into the trap of over-valuing primary sources and […]
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. […]
In 1914, on the eve of the First World War, Europe was tense as the thought of the coming conflict occupied everyone’s minds, a conflict that to some appeared more like a family feud. Why? The monarchies of Europe were so interconnected through centuries of marriages that, despite being enemies through 5 years of war, […]
Though a broad question, its answer is simple, studying gender makes history more inclusive. Gender studies allow historians to access gender-based perspectives within key areas of study, and its scholars have emerged from the most recent generations of historians. Historical records notoriously revolve around straight, white, cis-gendered men, raising a debate as to whether accurate […]