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The last days of Lord Londonderry
Historian article
Richard A. Gaunt explores a tragedy at the heart of early nineteenth century British politics, with the suicide of Viscount Castlereagh.
At 7.30 in the morning on Monday 12 August 1822, Robert Stewart, second Marquess of Londonderry, died from self-inflicted injuries caused by cutting the carotid artery in his neck...
The last days of Lord Londonderry
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The making of Magna Carta
Historian article
Magna Carta provided a commentary on the ills of the realm in the time of King John. Sophie Ambler looks at what grievances were addressed in the Charter, how the Charter was made, and what the Charter tells us about King John himself.
The world from which Magna Carta came...
The making of Magna Carta
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The amazing adventures of Pytheas the Greek
Historian article
Alf Wilkinson explores the achievements of Pytheas, the first person, as far as we know, to sail completely around the British Isles in around 325 BC.
When we think of the Ancient Greeks we tend to think of warfare, drama, myths and legends, perhaps mathematics, medicine and science. What we...
The amazing adventures of Pytheas the Greek
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The rise and fall of Nauru
Historian article
Aadam Patel offers an insight into the complexities of the recent economic history of a remote Pacific island.
Nauru is an isolated island located in the Pacific Ocean approximately 4,400km north-east from Australia and 1,300km north-east from the Solomon Islands. With an area of just below 21 squared kilometres, it is...
The rise and fall of Nauru
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The Fall of Singapore 1942
Historian article
Churchill called it "the worst disaster and the largest capitulation in British history" and the Fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 has certainly gathered its own mythology in the past 70 years. Was it all the fault of General Percival; were the guns pointing the wrong way; did the...
The Fall of Singapore 1942
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The secret diaries of William Wilberforce
Historian article
John Coffey shows us what insights can be gained from the diaries of leading abolitionist, William Wilberforce.
The diary is a distinctively modern genre... In English, the first diaries date from the Tudor era, but it is in the seventeenth century that the trickle becomes a flood. Alongside the famous...
The secret diaries of William Wilberforce
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History Abridged: The City of Alexandria
Historian feature
History Abridged: This feature seeks to take a person, event or period and abridge, or focus on, an important event or detail that can get lost in the big picture. Think Horrible Histories for grownups (without the songs and music). See all History Abridged articles
One of the oldest cities...
History Abridged: The City of Alexandria
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‘Zulu’ and the end of Empire
Historian article
In this article, Nicolas Kinloch examines the 1964 film Zulu. He suggests what it might tell us about the reality of the British Empire and asks if it has anything to say about the era in which the film was made.
One of the most successful British films of 1964...
‘Zulu’ and the end of Empire
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Origins of the European financial markets
Transcribed podcast lecture
This article is transcribed from a 2015 podcast given by Dr Anne Murphy of the University of Hertfordshire. In it Dr Murphy looks at the early origins of the European financial markets from the Italian Renaissance to the present day, as well as providing a useful introduction to finance, the stock market and the bond market....
Origins of the European financial markets
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Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs
Historian article
David Smith investigates how the USA made such a big mistake in the Bay of Pigs.
In his inaugural address, President Kennedy attempted to balance the demands of Cold War rhetoric with setting out a vision of a post-Cold War world. Praise for the speech came across the political divide, with the Republican minority leader Senator...
Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs
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Architecture within the reach of all
Historian article
Roisin Inglesby introduces us to the life and work of a lesser known member of the Arts and Crafts movement, Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo, who helped to change the face of European architecture and interior design.
Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851–1942) may not be a household name, but he is arguably one of the most significant figures in British design...
Architecture within the reach of all
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Beyond the boundaries of the Lake District
Historian article
This article responds to recent changes in the size and status of the Lake District National Park by considering the historical interconnectedness of the Lake District with the region that surrounds it. Drawing on visual and verbal responses to the landscape of the Lakes region, Christopher Donaldson reveals how historical...
Beyond the boundaries of the Lake District
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The Tale of Two Winstons
Historian article
Winston Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most prominent figures of the twentieth century. As Prime Minister he led Britain to victory against the Nazi war machine, leading Time to name him ‘Man of the Year' in 1940 and ‘Man of the Half Century' in 1949. As recently...
The Tale of Two Winstons
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Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, 918-2018
Historian article
Many fascinating individuals appear in the British Library’s Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition – Bede, Alfred, Canute, Emma, William the Conqueror – but one deserves to be much better known, especially in this her anniversary year: one of the most important women in British history, hers is a classic case of the...
Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, 918-2018
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The end of the Roman Empire
Historian article
Guy de la Bédoyère considers whether the Roman Empire ever really fell or simply went through endless processes of change that makes it an integral presence in our lives today.
The fall of the Roman Empire is like the end of the dinosaurs. It’s one of the vast dramatic crisis moments we love...
The end of the Roman Empire
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The End of Germany’s Colonial Empire
Historian article
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...
The End of Germany’s Colonial Empire
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Decolonising the Partition of British India, 1947
Historian article
Amrita Shodhan explores the complex legacy of Partition in India and the difficulties faced by historians in unpicking these narratives. She re-evaluates the events of August 1947 through personal stories and popular memories.
The Partition that we have inherited from 1947 has a complicated lineage. It was born out of...
Decolonising the Partition of British India, 1947
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The development of the Department of Health
Historian article
Health as a specific feature of central government strategy is a relatively recent phenomenon and Hugh Gault identifies how this feature of everyday headlines in our newspapers has been managed until the present time.
At the start of the twentieth century Lord Salisbury’s Cabinet comprised four Secretaries of State –...
The development of the Department of Health
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Medical aspects of the battle of Waterloo
Historian article
Michael Crumplin explores the medical facilities of the British Army and asks how likely soldiers wounded at Waterloo were to survive.
The road to Waterloo
One of the very few benefits of conflict is the advancement of medical practice. The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistanhave been dealing with relatively...
Medical aspects of the battle of Waterloo
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The Story of the African Queen
Historian article
Where fact and fiction intercept: the story of The African Queen(s) by C.S. Forester
When the Königin Luise was hull down over the horizon and the dhow was close in-shore the lieutenant left his post and went down to the jetty to meet his senior officer. The dhow ran briskly in,...
The Story of the African Queen
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Strange Journey: the life of Dorothy Eckersley
Historian article
Meeting in Berlin
Three days before the outbreak of the Second World War, William Joyce, the leader of the British Nazi group, the National Socialist League, was in Berlin. He and his wife, Margaret, had fled there fearing internment by the British government if war broke out. Yet as war...
Strange Journey: the life of Dorothy Eckersley
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My Favourite History Place: The Great House of Mercers Creek
Historian feature
The tropical island of Antigua is a tourist heaven, but Gabriella Howell’s research into her family property, the Great House of Mercers Creek, shows how over the centuries, a varied history has shaped the experience of visitors and residents alike. From the enslaved and missionaries to admirals and film stars,...
My Favourite History Place: The Great House of Mercers Creek
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Environmental history and the challenges of the present
Historian article
In a wide-ranging survey of the field, Amanda Power explains what it means to do environmental history at a time of climate crisis, and points to the opportunities and challenges in this thriving area of research...
Environmental history and the challenges of the present
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Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (602–690)
Historian article
The remarkable career of Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, shows how the political and religious turmoil in the seventh-century eastern Mediterranean had a direct impact upon the English kingdoms.
Asked to name the most significant archbishops of Canterbury, it is likely that few would name the seventh-century monk, Theodore of...
Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (602–690)
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The death of Lord Londonderry
Historian article
Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, better known to his contemporaries and to history as Viscount Castlereagh, committed suicide on 12 August 1822, at the age of fifty-three, when Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons. He was one of the great statesmen of his age: as Chief...
The death of Lord Londonderry
