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Film: The Ruin of All Witches
Life and Death in the New World
Professor Malcom Gaskill joined the HA Virtual Branch on Thursday 10th December 2022 to discuss the subject of his book, The Ruin of all Witches, Life and Death in the New World, which was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize in 2022. His research explores the attitudes, beliefs and treatment of people as...
Film: The Ruin of All Witches
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Capturing public opinion during the Paris Commune of 1871
Historian article
In the year of its 150th anniversary, Jason Jacques Willems offers his thoughts on the importance of centrist opinion to our understanding of the Paris Commune.
2021 is the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune, when a revolutionary Parisian movement was pitted against the French government. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870...
Capturing public opinion during the Paris Commune of 1871
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Film: The Weimar Republic
Film series: Power and authority in Germany, 1871-1991
Professor Tim Grady takes us back to the final days of the First World War to examine the developing splits in German society that turned into revolutionary chasms following the country’s defeat. From this he reassesses some of the factors that led to the Weimar Republic’s collapse while also allowing...
Film: The Weimar Republic
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Exploring Twentieth-Century History
Article
For a long time, history curricula on the 20th century prioritised the narrative of a slide from World War I to World War II and fascism above many other topics. But the history of the 20th century is both far more complicated and far more interesting than that. For the historians writing here, the...
Exploring Twentieth-Century History
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Dr Joseph Parry: the story of Wales’ greatest composer
Historian article
Colin Wheldon James introduces us to a 19th-century Welsh composer who deserves far greater recognition for his achievements in Wales as well as in England and America.
Dr Joseph Parry: the story of Wales’ greatest composer
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Out and About: on the trail of the Pentrich Rebellion
Historian feature
Richard Gaunt introduces us to a revolutionary incident in mid-Derbyshire whose 200th anniversary is commemorated this year.
Out and About: on the trail of the Pentrich Rebellion
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Homosexuality in Britain Since 1967
Historian article
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.
Homosexuality in Britain Since 1967
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‘Power to the people’? Disputed presidential elections in US history
Historian article
Michael Dunne reveals the complex background to the modern elaborate constitutional process of electing a United States President.
On Wednesday, 20 January 2021, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States of America. In years to come these simple words may seem prosaic and...
‘Power to the people’? Disputed presidential elections in US history
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Film series: The African-American Civil Rights Movement
Film: An introduction to the African-American Civil Rights Movement
The US civil rights battles of the latter half of the twentieth century are a common part of popular culture - and yet the detail is often overlooked in favour of the headlines. It is a positive step that so many of us now know the names of Rosa Parks...
Film series: The African-American Civil Rights Movement
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Film: Heligoland: Britain, Germany, and the Struggle for the North Sea
Article
Professor Jan Rüger joined the Virtual Branch on 9th February 2023 to talk about his book Heligoland: Britain, Germany, and the Struggle for the North Sea, tracing a rich history of contact and conflict from the Napoleonic Wars to the Cold War.
For generations this North Sea island expressed a German...
Film: Heligoland: Britain, Germany, and the Struggle for the North Sea
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Film: Berengaria of Navarre
History & Myth
In this talk Dr Gabrielle Storey discusses the life and times of Berengaria of Navarre, queen of England, lord of Le Mans, and wife of Richard I.
Berengaria of Navarre has been inaccurately labelled as the only queen never to have stepped foot in England. This talk will present new analysis...
Film: Berengaria of Navarre
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Recorded webinar: Untold Stories of D-Day
Webinar
The HA has worked with film-maker, historian and Legasee ambassador Martyn Cox on a series of webinars looking at untold stories from the Second World War. Many of these stories are taken for the oral histories provided in interviews given to Martyn on film.
In this filmed webinar, Martyn goes...
Recorded webinar: Untold Stories of D-Day
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Film: Lenin and the Russian Civil War
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
Revolution is never simple. Lenin and the Bolsheviks quickly found that not everyone in Russia or outside of it approved of their new radical agenda. Russia was plunged into a civil war of devastating circumstances. How would its new leader manage and how much were the needs of the people...
Film: Lenin and the Russian Civil War
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The 1620 Mayflower voyage and the English settlement of North America
Historian article
On the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims in New England on the Mayflower, Martyn Whittock explores the reasons for migration to the New World in 1620 and later, and the significance of those migrants, both at the time and their impact on the evolution of the USA...
The 1620 Mayflower voyage and the English settlement of North America
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The British General Strike 1926
Classic Pamphlet
‘The General Strike is a challenge to Parliament and is the road to anarchy and ruin.' (Stanley Baldwin, Prime Minister, 6th May 1926).
‘The General Council does not challenge the Constitution ... the sole aim of the Council is to secure for the miners a decent standard of life. The Council...
The British General Strike 1926
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Recorded webinar: Maya ruler King Pakal II of Palenque
‘A veritable Tutankhamun of the New World’
The discovery in 1952 of the tomb of King Pakal II of Palenque has been called the most important archaeological find in the history of the Americas. Protected by a magnificently sculpted stone sarcophagus depicting Pakal’s descent to the underworld and re-birth as the maize god lay the body of...
Recorded webinar: Maya ruler King Pakal II of Palenque
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Bismarck after Fifty Years
Classic Pamphlet
This notable essay by Dr. Erich Eyck, the most distinguished Bismarckian scholar of the mid-twentieth century was written on the invitation of the HA to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bismark's death. Dr. Eyck, a German Liberal of the school of Ludwig Bamberger, found his way to England in the...
Bismarck after Fifty Years
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Thomas Paine
Pamphlet
The radical writer Tom Paine (1737-1809) has become a neglected figure, but this work argues that he should be rightly regarded as an original thinker, whose publications contributed to revolutionary discourses in America, France and Britain in the late 18th Century. He deserves to be remembered in the United States...
Thomas Paine
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Flight from Kabul: a historical perspective
Historian article
In this article, Matt Jux-Blayney compares the British retreat from Kabul in 1842 with the most recent flight of NATO from Kabul in August 2021. Matt explores the various similarities between the two campaigns and includes personal recollections from his service in Afghanistan with the British Army.
On 6 January...
Flight from Kabul: a historical perspective
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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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Memorial Oaks at Wolsingham School
Historian article
Our World War I commemorative series continues with Robert Hopkinson's introduction to what the Imperial War Museum believes is the oldest war memorial in Britain.
Wolsingham School and Community College, in Weardale, County Durham, celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2014. As part of the celebrations, there was an exhibition, a...
Memorial Oaks at Wolsingham School
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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
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Agincourt 1415-2015
Historian article
Agincourt has become one of a small number of iconic events in our collective memory. Anne Curry explores how succeeding generations have exploited its significance.
In his budget statement of 18 March 2015 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced £1m had been awarded to commemorate the 600th anniversary...
Agincourt 1415-2015
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D-Day, Commemorations - the last big year to remember?
Historian article
This year it was the 70th anniversary of D-Day. The world's politicians and media went into overdrive about it. The BBC dedicated a whole day to the coverage, mainly live from Normandy while small events took place around the UK. For a whole day the upcoming centenary of the First...
D-Day, Commemorations - the last big year to remember?
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1066 in 2016
Historian article
David Bates explores modern-day research into the complexities behind the politics and conflict of 1066, providing us with some new interpretations and perspectives.
The many activities that took place around the time of the 950th anniversary of the battle of Hastings have shown that the year 1066 continues to have...
1066 in 2016
