Kate Ash-Irisarri shows how three redoubtable women had significant roles in the difficult and dangerous period of the Scottish Wars of Independence.

Jenni Hyde was out and about in Derry in 2016 and describes how the sights of the city tell the story of a history which is so much more than just the legacy of the Troubles.

John McKendrick considers how Scotland’s wish to create a trading empire was dashed and made the Act of Union of 1707 almost inevitable.

Jim McBride looks at the growing demand for equal civil rights for the Catholic population of Northern Ireland through the 1960s, which led to the resignation of Terence O’Neill in 1969.

Elite Anglo-Saxon women played a powerful role in the religious affairs and politics of their day and were important patrons of learning and culture.

Tracy Borman explores the distinction between the public and private lives of the Tudor monarchs. The Tudors were renowned for their public magnificence. Perhaps more than any royal dynasty in British history, they appreciated the importance of impressing their subjects with the splendour of their dress, courts and pageantry in order to reinforce their authority. Wherever...

Ted Vallance discusses the extent to which Richard Cromwell was able to muster broader support for his rule than is sometimes acknowledged. If the second Lord Protector, Richard Cromwell, is remembered at all, it is as a byword for political failure. Succeeding to the position of head of state after his father, Oliver Cromwell’s death in September...

For their meeting in September 2017 the Bolton Branch requested a talk on Renaissance Italy. What they heard dealt with the Italian portion of the Borgia family, led by Pope Alexander VI, though the topicality of Catalan nationalism meant that the principal figures were introduced with comment on the Italian,...

Harry Cocks marks the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act with an examination of what has happened since this crucial piece of legislation.

Hugh Gault explains why, 50 years later, 1968 is still remembered as a dramatic year. 1967 was 'the summer of love', and that spirit continued into 1968; but there were also many events in 1968 that were of a different sort, when the liberty of 1967 was accompanied by a...

This article has been created from the podcast of the same name on this website by Professor Sally R. Munt, University of Sussex. It has been put into article form by Paula Kitching, and the factual and arguments of the piece are those of the original author. 

Stephen M. Cullen draws out the influences and events that shaped one of Britain’s most significant fascist organisers and leaders.

Simon Constantine examines the clashes between the Left and Right of Germany’s new Republic that helped to create the environment for future extremism and hatred.

Sarah Badcock sheds light on how ordinary Russians responded to the revolutions of 1917 that sought to change their lot and bring them freedom.

Peter Waldron explores the role of art in communicating to the masses the ideas of politics and change in Bolshevik Russia.

Richard Gaunt introduces us to a revolutionary incident in mid-Derbyshire whose 200th anniversary is commemorated this year.

Malcolm Crook discusses why it was so difficult to end the most famous revolution of the eighteenth century and why it led to bloodshed and absolutism.

Daniel Steinbach asks why the loss of the German colonies in Africa was perceived as a powerful symbol of Germany’s deliberate humiliation at the end of the First World War. Famously, Germany’s first and last shots of the First World War were fired in Africa. From its beginning to its...

Dave Martin relates how the statue of one of our imperial ‘heroes’ prompted a campaign to have it taken down while the statue of another imperial ‘hero’ prompted a fund-raising campaign for its repair. As the tide of Empire ebbed across the globe vestiges of British rule remained, some great,...