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The Advent of Decimalisation in Britain: 1971
Historian article
Decimal Day in Britain was Monday 15 February 1971. New coins and notes were circulated. There was no special issue postage stamp to commemorate the occasion, only a new series with some unfamiliar values, such as 7½p instead of 1s 6d. The fortieth anniversary of the arrival of decimal currency...
The Advent of Decimalisation in Britain: 1971
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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
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Cambuskenneth books: Looted Scottish law books return to Edinburgh
Historian article
Memorandum that Edinburgh was won on 8th day of May in the 36th year of the reign of Henry VIII and year of God 1543 and this book was acquired and brought away by me Wm. Norris of Speke, Knight, on 11th day of May aforesaid and is now the...
Cambuskenneth books: Looted Scottish law books return to Edinburgh
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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
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Men's Beards and Women's Backsides
Historian article
Since the late Middle Ages periods in which it was fashionable for men to be clean-shaven have alternated in Europe with periods in which it was fashionable for men to wear beards. In some periods clean-shavenness went together with long hair, at others beards went together with short hair, and...
Men's Beards and Women's Backsides
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Hammer, House of Horror: The making of a British film company, 1934 to 1979
Historian article
The now legendary film company Hammer made such classics as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958), plus their numerous sequels and subsequent remakes of old Universal Gothic chillers (The Curse of the Werewolf, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera), as well as making international stars out of Peter...
Hammer, House of Horror: The making of a British film company, 1934 to 1979
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Culture Shock: The Arrival of the Conquistadores in Aztec Mexico
Historian article
When the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in Mexico during the early sixteenth century there were many repercussions for the indigenous people. Their conversion to Christianity and the sacking of their temples are two of the most well known examples. However, it is often forgotten that the Aztecs had only a pictorial...
Culture Shock: The Arrival of the Conquistadores in Aztec Mexico
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Exploring murals and graffiti in modern Ukraine
Historian article
Kateryna Petrova explores the history and evolution of street art, especially graffiti and murals in Ukraine from the Soviet era to the present day. She traces the transformation of street art from a forbidden and persecuted activity to one coordinated with city authorities and embraced by the public. She also...
Exploring murals and graffiti in modern Ukraine
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A cuisine fit for wartime: history and practices of Ukrainian cooking
Historian article
Olena Braichenko examines the most common dishes of Ukrainian cuisine, describing the culinary traditions of the indigenous people of Ukraine – the Crimean Tatars. She explains how the Soviet past influenced the gastronomic culture of Ukrainians and what peculiarities of Ukrainian culinary behaviour contribute to stability and survival in the...
A cuisine fit for wartime: history and practices of Ukrainian cooking
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In search of Alice Molland: an English witchcraft will o’ the wisp
Historian article
As the Historical Association runs its short course on Witchcraft, Werewolves and Magic in European History, Mark Stoyle investigates an apparent turning point in the history of English witchcraft: the case of a woman accused of witchcraft in seventeenth-century Devon.
We also include Mark Stoyle's 'Doing History' companion piece to his...
In search of Alice Molland: an English witchcraft will o’ the wisp
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Real Lives: Cecily Cook
Historian feature
Our series ‘Real Lives’ seeks to put the story of the ordinary person into our great historical narrative. We are all part of the rich fabric of the communities in which we live and we are affected to greater and lesser degrees by the big events that happen on a daily...
Real Lives: Cecily Cook
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From our branches: Were we quite mad? Establishing the East Sussex Branch
Historian feature
John Oliphant gives us the lowdown on the Historical Association’s new East Sussex Branch, describing the tribulations faced by its committee before a lecture on Oliver Cromwell in September 2024 marked a successful start to the new academic year...
From our branches: Were we quite mad? Establishing the East Sussex Branch
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The Historian 163: Ukraine
The magazine of the Historical Association
4 Letters
5 Editorial (Read article)
6 Lands of Cossacks. Lands of wheat. Lands of possibilities. Lands of Freedom. Images of Ukraine through western lenses – Tetiana Vodotyka (Read article)
14 Cultural and historical heritage of Ukraine in the conditions of the new Russian-Ukrainian war (2014–24) – Olha Makliuk (Read...
The Historian 163: Ukraine
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Doing history for climate action
Historian article
Incidents of flooding across the UK are increasing, threatening homes and livelihoods. In this article, Hannah Worthen and Briony McDonagh explain how they are using historic records of floods and flood management to engage communities in Hull in new conversations and to prompt vital action. Their project, Risky Cities, was...
Doing history for climate action
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Real Lives: Henry Allingham and the First World War
Historian feature
Our series ‘Real Lives’ seeks to put the story of the ordinary person into our great historical narrative. We are all part of the rich fabric of the communities in which we live and we are affected to greater and lesser degrees by the big events that happen on a daily...
Real Lives: Henry Allingham and the First World War
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The Historian 162: Out now
The magazine of the Historical Association
Read The Historian 162: Environment
Environment, broadly defined as the surroundings in which one lives, is an essential component of the study of past societies. Its importance has given rise to a number of fields of study. In Britain, landscape history was pioneered by W.G. Hoskins in the 1950s, and...
The Historian 162: Out now
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The Historian 162: Environment
The magazine of the Historical Association
4 Letters
5 Editorial (Read article)
6 Environmental history and the challenges of the present – Amanda Power (Read article)
12 Art and ecology: making connections across museum collections to educate people about the Earth Crisis – Carla Benzan and Samuel Shaw (Read article)
18 Glacier Tours in the Northern Playground – Christian...
The Historian 162: Environment
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‘Since singing is so good a thing’: William Byrd on the benefits of singing
Historian article
As the value of music education is again a topic of societal debate, Tudor composer William Byrd, the four hundredth anniversary of whose death is celebrated this year, was a powerful advocate of singing in early modern England, writes Katherine Butler.
Tudor composer William Byrd (c.1540–1623) is recognised today not only...
‘Since singing is so good a thing’: William Byrd on the benefits of singing
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Sutton Hoo and long-distance contacts
Historian article
This article looks at the importance of long distance connections between the English kingdoms and the eastern Mediterranean in the sixth to eighth centuries.
The relationship between the ship burial at Sutton Hoo – in the eastern English county of Suffolk – the people who discovered and excavated it, and what...
Sutton Hoo and long-distance contacts
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Digging the dirt on ‘The Dig’
Historian article
Laura Howarth, Archaeology and Engagement Manager at the National Trust property of Sutton Hoo, reflects on the discovery of the ship burial in 1939 and its portrayal in the 2021 film, The Dig.
In a corner of Suffolk during the summer of 1939, an archaeological discovery was made at Sutton...
Digging the dirt on ‘The Dig’
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Iron Age Scandinavia and the Silk Roads: a new frontier
Historian article
Both public and scholarly perceptions of the Viking Age (c.AD 750–1050) have long been dominated by a western outlook, emphasising raiding and trading in Europe and the North Atlantic, with only limited attention paid to Scandinavian contacts to the east. In recent years, this viewpoint has shifted dramatically, not only acknowledging the borderless...
Iron Age Scandinavia and the Silk Roads: a new frontier
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A probable silk heirloom from Central Asia...
Historian article
This article explores precious fragments of silk, manufactured in the Byzantine Empire and Central Asia, discovered in archaeological excavations in Dublin.
Dublin, situated on the east coast of Ireland, grew out of a fortified riverside camp (longphort) for overwintering marauding Vikings or ‘northmen’, who were plundering wealthy ecclesiastical establishments from the late eighth...
A probable silk heirloom from Central Asia...
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Real Lives: Miss F.M.G. Lorimer (1883–1967)
Historian feature
Our series ‘Real Lives’ seeks to put the story of the ordinary person into our great historical narrative. We are all part of the rich fabric of the communities in which we live and we are affected to greater and lesser degrees by the big events that happen on a daily...
Real Lives: Miss F.M.G. Lorimer (1883–1967)
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The Historian 161: Out now
The magazine of the Historical Association
Read The Historian 161: The Silk Roads
Although the term ‘the Silk Roads’ was coined over 150 years ago, it has found new resonance with historians interested in a broader, international history, part of the ‘global turn’ in the discipline. The contributions to this issue arise from a research collaboration...
The Historian 161: Out now
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The Historian 161: The Silk Roads
The magazine of the Historical Association
4 Letters – Ask The Historian
5 Editorial (Read article)
6 The ‘Silk Roads’: the use and abuse of a historical concept – Susan Whitfield (Read article)
14 From Norwich to Nara: reflections on Silk Road connections – Simon Kaner (Read article)
20 Sutton Hoo and long-distance contacts – Andy...
The Historian 161: The Silk Roads
