Modern

Starting with the nineteenth century and bringing us right up to the debates of today this section contains many insightful podcasts that explore the recent and current world around us. Included here are the arguments around the legacy of war and the impact of social change. The history of social and civil movements and modern debate about religion and technology. Read more

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  • Recorded webinar series: Jane Austen and Georgian England

    Multipage Article

    Join us for a journey through Georgian history, literature and society – all from the comfort of your own home. Celebrating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, this rich, interdisciplinary webinar series from the Historical Association delves into the vibrant world of the Georgians through the lens of one of...

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  • Queer Britain and Public History

    Podcast

    In this podcast Dr Samantha Knapton of Nottingham University and Jennifer Shearman of Queer Britain explain how their work has come together to reveal and present the hidden history of LGBTQ+ lives across Britian and beyond. Queer Britain is the UK’s first museum dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community and its...

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  • Virtual Branch Recording: Vagabonds versus the Mendicity Society

    Article

    Red Lion Square was long one of London's most genteel addresses, home to nobles, scholars, and professionals. But on 25 March 1818, one house on the south side opened its doors to quite another class of person, as the Mendicity Society began its business. Set up to solve the growing...

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  • Filmed Lecture: Medlicott Lecture 2024 - Professor Catherine Hall

    Article

    Addressing issues of the legacies of racism created by the transatlantic slave trade and the narratives of its abolition  The Medlicott Medal is awarded annually for outstanding services and contributions to history. This year the Medal went to Professor Catherine Hall, who is Emerita Professor of Modern British Social and Cultural History at...

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  • An Interview with Matt Cook, Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexuality

    Multipage Article

    In this series of filmed interviews, Professor Matt Cook, who has the Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexuality, Mansfield College, University of Oxford, addresses some of the key questions currently on the agenda around LGBTQ+ rights, language and politics. In many of the sections he explores his own...

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  • Virtual Branch recording: The Women's World Committee against War & Fascism

    Article

    How did a group of women activists with varied ideological backgrounds construct several important campaigns against fascism in the interwar period? How did this Women's World Committee against War and Fascism (Comité Mondial des Femmes contre la Guerre et le Fascisme) undertake effective humanitarian and propaganda work and forge extensive...

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  • British-Polish relations and the British Polish community

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Sam Knapton (University of Nottingham) discusses the development of the relationship between Britain and Poland in the 20th and early 21st centuries, the growth and experience of the British Polish community after World War II and Poland's accession to the EU, and looks at the influence...

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  • Film: Living with Violence at the End of the British Empire

    Article

    In the 1950s, Britain fought a series of brutal wars against insurgents in the colonies of Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus. How did people at home experience these wars? How did they learn about the use of torture and other unsettling tactics? And how did they respond to this knowledge? In...

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  • Petitioning the House of Commons, 1780–1918

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Richard Huzzey and Dr Henry Miller of the University of Durham discuss their research project on 'Re-thinking petitions, Parliament, and people in the long nineteenth century'. During this project they analysed records of 1 million public petitions to the House of Commons in the period 1780-1918 - and...

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  • The Development of the British Army

    Podcast

    In this podcast, Professor Bruce Collins looks at the development of the British army during the French Wars and the nineteenth century.

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  • The Economic Impact of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars on Britain

    Podcast

    In this podcast Professor Patrick O'Brien of the London School of Economics discusses the economic impact of the Revoutionary and Napoleonic wars on Britain.

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  • The evolution of surgery

    Podcast

    In this podcast, Michael Crumplin explores the development of military surgery during the Napoleonic Wars. He provides a brief context of the evolution of surgery and outlines the changes in training, surgical knowledge, militarisation, apparatus and patient experience. 

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  • British-Irish Gypsy Traveller History (Part 1)

    Podcast

    In this first of two podcasts Dr Becky Taylor, Reader in Modern History at the University of East Anglia and Editor-in-Chief of 'History: The Journal of the Historical Association' is asked questions by Helen Snelson, Chair of HA Secondary Committee. The questions in part one focus on how Dr Taylor...

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  • British-Irish Gypsy Traveller History (Part 2)

    Podcast

    In this second of two podcasts Dr Becky Taylor, Reader in Modern History at the University of East Anglia and Editor-in-Chief of 'History: The Journal of the Historical Association' is once again asked questions by Helen Snelson, Chair of HA Secondary Committee. Part Two focuses on the big stories of...

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  • The Development of the Navy through the 19th Century

    Podcast

    Professor Andrew Lambert outlines the key role of Nelson and the Royal Navy in Napoleon’s defeat, and the development of the navy through the nineteenth century; from technology and infrastructure to naval recruitment and the various reforms which took place during that period.

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  • Early British Women Engineers

    Podcast

    In this podcast Henrietta Heald looks at some of the pioneering British women engineers of the early 20th century and the role they played in fighting for economic freedom. '"Women have won their political independence. Now is the time for them to achieve their economic freedom too." This was the...

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  • Espionage in the 20th and 21st centuries

    Podcast

    In this podcast Trevor Barnes looks at the development of global intelligence and security services from their early origins to the present day. He examines at the role these services had during the two World Wars, the signficance of espionage in the development of the Cold War and the importance and...

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  • Radical Protest in the Nineteenth Century

    Podcast

    In this series of videos, produced by Royal Holloway, University of London, staff and students explore the history of radicalism in the nineteenth century, including the Spa Fields Riots, the Pentrich Uprising, Luddism, the Swing Riots and the March of the Blanketeers. The playlist also provides an overview of key...

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  • Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law League

    Podcast

    In this series of videos, produced by Royal Holloway, University of London, staff and students examine two of the most important reform movements of the early nineteenth century: Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law League, contrasting their tactics, leadership and success. The playlist also contains a number of readings of Chartist...

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  • Votes for Women

    Podcast

    In this series of videos, produced by Royal Holloway, University of London, staff and students examine the campaign for women’s suffrage in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This includes videos looking at why the suffrage campaign started in the 1860s; introductions to the main suffrage organisations, their leaders and...

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