Found 1,388 results matching 'brief history' within Historian   (Clear filter)

Not found what you’re looking for? Try using double quote marks to search for a specific whole word or phrase, try a different search filter on the left, or see our search tips.

  • Real Lives: Colonel James Skinner

      Historian feature
    The story of the British in India is a complex one and further nuances are provided by the existence of several ‘Eurasians’ who had both British and Indian heritage. Here Arunansh Goswami reflects on the life and achievements of one of these, James Skinner, who had a Scottish father and an Indian...
    Real Lives: Colonel James Skinner
  • Out and About: The Parish Armoury in St Mary’s Church, Mendlesham

      Historian feature
    In the Tudor and early Stuart period most towns and villages had a legal obligation to store arms and armour in case of a national emergency. Here Shona Rutherford-Edge tells the story of the parish armoury in the Suffolk village of Mendlesham, which was kept in the local church and from which many...
    Out and About: The Parish Armoury in St Mary’s Church, Mendlesham
  • Opinion: The Sarajevo Assassination and the Perilous Limits of the 9/11 Analogy

      Historian article
    Historians love making analogies to the present day, and in 2014, during the 100th anniversary of the Sarajevo assassination and outbreak of the First World War, many were tempted to see parallels to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But not only is this analogy mistaken, it conceals the blundering true nature...
    Opinion: The Sarajevo Assassination and the Perilous Limits of the 9/11 Analogy
  • Film: A conversation on Goethe with A.N. Wilson

      Article
    In Goethe: His Faustian life, award-winning biographer, critic and writer A. N. Wilson tells the spellbinding story of the life of Goethe. From his youth as a wild literary prodigy, to his later years as Germany’s most heroic intellectual figure, Wilson hones in on Goethe’s undying obsession with the work he would spend his...
    Film: A conversation on Goethe with A.N. Wilson
  • The Miraculous Crusade: The Role of the Mystical and Miraculous in the Morale and Motivation of the First Crusade

      Historian article
    The First Crusade may be considered the only really successful crusade in that it achieved its stated goal, but it demanded great courage and stamina of its participants in their journey to the Holy City of Jerusalem, fighting their way through an unforgiving hostile territory. But courage and stamina by...
    The Miraculous Crusade: The Role of the Mystical and Miraculous in the Morale and Motivation of the First Crusade
  • Lord Rochester's Grand Tour 1661 - 1664

      Historian article
    The late Frank Ellis was working on a full biography of John Wilmot, earl of Rochester, at the time of his death in 2007. He had contributed a life of Wilmot to the Oxford Dictionary of  National Biography which appeared in 2004. In it he wrote that ‘on 21 November...
    Lord Rochester's Grand Tour 1661 - 1664
  • Charles Gilpin

      Historian article
    Family Background and Early Life Charles Gilpin was born in Bristol in 1815, the son of James Gilpin, a Quaker draper, and Mary Gilpin nee Sturge. The Sturges were a notable Quaker Liberal family, active in the campaign against slavery. Their relatives included the Darbys of Coalbrookdale. Charles Gilpin was...
    Charles Gilpin
  • Gladstone and the London May Day Demonstrators, 1890

      Historian article
    One hundred and twenty years ago the advent of the first red May Days caused major concern across Europe. To general surprise, in 1890 and the next few years some of the largest rallies occurred in London. In Britain the main demonstration on the nearest Sunday to May Day passed...
    Gladstone and the London May Day Demonstrators, 1890
  • In conversation with Ulinka Rublack

      Historian feature
    The Historian discusses with Ulinka Rublack her latest book, Dürer’s Lost Masterpiece: Art and Society at the Dawn of a Global World (2023), which takes a fresh look at this major Renaissance artist, telling the story of his life and times, and reassessing some of his best-known works...
    In conversation with Ulinka Rublack
  • Tudor Enclosures

      Classic Pamphlet
    Tudor enclosures hold the attention of historians because of the fundamental changes which they wrought in our system of farming, and in the appearance of the English countryside. At the same time, the subject is continually being re-investigated, and as a result it is no longer presented in the simple...
    Tudor Enclosures
  • Sensory streetscapes: people and urban environments 1930–1975

      Historian article
    Urbanisation is a defining characteristic of the modern age in Britain. The physical construction and management of urban environments has consumed the attention of historians since the late 1960s. In this article, Lucy Faire and Denise McHugh turn their attention to the citizens’ sensory experience of the modern town and...
    Sensory streetscapes: people and urban environments 1930–1975
  • Father of the Free French Navy: Thierry d’Argenlieu

      Historian article
    Thierry d’Argenlieu played a crucial role in the French Resistance during World War Two, but he does not fit the mould of the typical resister. Adrian Smith brings to light d’Argenlieu’s wartime experiences, and follows his career after 1945 as High Commissioner in Indo-China and member of the Carmelite order...
    Father of the Free French Navy: Thierry d’Argenlieu
  • The Russian Constitutional Monarchy, 1907-17

      Classic Pamphlet
    The defeat of the revolution of 1905 afforded the absolutist Tsarist monarchy an opportunity to reform the administration and to seek a new basis of support in place of the declining gentry class. Historians have been divided ever since over the constitutional system's chances of success. Had Tsardom advanced far...
    The Russian Constitutional Monarchy, 1907-17
  • Living on the Silk Roads: Voices from Dunhuang

      Historian article
    In Autumn 2024, the British Library will mount an exhibition exploring the stories of the people who inhabited or passed through the oasis town of Dunhuang during the first millennium. Located in modern-day Gansu province, in northwest China, Dunhuang was originally established as a garrison town and became an important commercial...
    Living on the Silk Roads: Voices from Dunhuang
  • The Battle of Monte Cassino and the D-Day Landings

      Article
    The Second World War is no longer a recent war. Very soon, there will be no veterans left to tell us how they saw things and what it was really like for them. While some eyewitnesses who were children at the time might be with us to see the centenary...
    The Battle of Monte Cassino and the D-Day Landings
  • Varieties of Reformation

      Classic Pamphlet
    The most significant change to have occurred in our view of the Reformation in recent years is the growing acknowledgement of historians that it was no unitary phenomenon whose triumph was assured and inevitable. What we refer to in short-hand as ‘the' Reformation was a many-sided affair which began with...
    Varieties of Reformation
  • ‘A little bird told me’: spies and espionage in the early medieval world

      Historian article
    Spies were a common feature of political, diplomatic and courtly life in the period of early medieval Europe. In this article, Jenny Benham explores some interesting contemporary representations of spies, in both literature and art. These stories and images reveal key features of the culture and practices surrounding these so-called...
    ‘A little bird told me’: spies and espionage in the early medieval world
  • In conversation with Nicholas Radburn

      Historian article
    The Historian sat down with historian Nicholas Radburn to discuss his latest book, Traders in Men, which examines the role of merchants in the expansion and transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the eighteenth century.
    In conversation with Nicholas Radburn
  • Visit: Barton-upon-Humber

      Historian feature
    Barton-upon-Humber is a small historic town situated on the south bank of the River Humber, in the old north Lincolnshire area of Lindsey. It is almost opposite the large city and port of Kingston-upon-Hull. The name is derived from ‘Beretun', which meant ‘Barley Town', a tribute to its importance in...
    Visit: Barton-upon-Humber
  • Towards Reform in 1809

      Historian article
    Two hundred years ago it must have seemed to some as if the time for political and economic reform in Britain had arrived. A number of the necessary conditions appeared to be in place: recent examples from America and France showing how readily and rapidly established systems could be overturned...
    Towards Reform in 1809
  • The National Memorial to William Ewart Gladstone

      Historian article
    To stand amidst the books in St Deiniol's Library is an intimidating experience for it is an encounter with the restless, brooding intelligence that was William Ewart Gladstone. Lord Runcie of Cuddesdon, Archbishop of Canterbury (18 May 1998) The ‘Temple of Peace' St Deiniol's Library was founded in 1894 by...
    The National Memorial to William Ewart Gladstone
  • The 'Penny Dreadful'

      Historian article
    "I wish I know'd as much as you, Dick. How did you manage to pick it up?" "Mother taught me most, and I read all the books I can get." "So do I; sich rattling tales, too ---‘The Black Phantom; or, the White Spectre of the Pink Rock.' It's fine,...
    The 'Penny Dreadful'
  • The Road to Dunkirk

      Historian article
    Seventy years after the outbreak of the Second World War, British foreign policy in the 1930s remains as controversial as ever. While appeasement is now a byword for political failure, the reasons for its adoption and the responsibility of the statesmen concerned are constantly debated. In general, opinion looks unfavourably...
    The Road to Dunkirk
  • The Evolution of the British Electoral System 1832-1987

      Classic Pamphlet
    During the last 20 years our perspective on the great Victorian question of parliamentary reform has noticeably changed. We have acquired a comprehensive picture of the organisation and political socialisation of those who won the vote; and some interesting debates have developed about the social characteristics of the electors and...
    The Evolution of the British Electoral System 1832-1987
  • Arctic aspirations: Britain and Icelandic independence, 1917–18

      Historian article
    As it sought independence, Iceland gained a new significance for Britain during the latter stages of the First World War, writes Ben Markham.  At the turn of the twentieth century, Iceland was not an independent country. Isolated in the North Atlantic Ocean, it was nonetheless considered an integral part of...
    Arctic aspirations: Britain and Icelandic independence, 1917–18