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The Englishness of George Orwell
Podcast
George Orwell is best known for Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four - one book an allegory of The Russian Revolution, and the other a science fiction dystopia about a globalized world. Before these two last works, the heart and soul of Orwell's writing had been about England and the...
The Englishness of George Orwell
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The German Revolution of 1918-19
Historian article
Simon Constantine examines the clashes between the Left and Right of Germany’s new Republic that helped to create the environment for future extremism and hatred.
The German Revolution of 1918-19
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Podcast Series: The Age of Revolutions
Multipage Article
This podcast series was commissioned as part of the HA’s education programme on the Age of Revolutions period, funded by the Age of Revolution legacy project. They were recorded with leading academic historians and are intended to shed light on a variety of perspectives on the period.
These podcasts were...
Podcast Series: The Age of Revolutions
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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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100 years of the 19th Amendment
US history
When the Founding Fathers of the US created their Constitution in 1787 (formally starting in 1789) they were keen to make the US a modern and fair place to live, a new start away from the restrictions of the Old World and its antiquated forms of rule. However, they also...
100 years of the 19th Amendment
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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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The Origins of the First World War
Classic Pamphlet
The First World War broke out suddenly and unexpectedly in midsummer 1914, following the murder of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Hapsburg, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, at Sarajevo, in Bosnia, on 28 June. Since no war involving the European great powers had occurred since 1871, the possibility of...
The Origins of the First World War
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Opinion: the populist politics of Joseph Chamberlain and Donald Trump
Historian feature
What are the pitfalls and pluses of comparing historical figures with contemporary politicians? Chris Godden argues that recent comparisons of Donald Trump with one of his predecessors may be wide of the mark, but that a more illuminating parallel may be found with one of Britain’s most controversial nineteenth-century politicians.
Opinion: the populist politics of Joseph Chamberlain and Donald Trump
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What caused the decline of trams in West Yorkshire?
Historian article
In an article based on his award-winning essay for the Young Historian competition, Christopher Barnett describes the development, decline and potential resurrection of West Yorkshire’s tram network...
What caused the decline of trams in West Yorkshire?
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‘The Nazi Service’? The Prussian origins of the Luftwaffe
Historian article
The Luftwaffe had been a real achievement of Prussian military culture, but under poor Nazi leadership it degenerated into an ineffective fighting force, writes Stephen Graham.
‘The Nazi Service’? The Prussian origins of the Luftwaffe
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Opinion: Who was ‘the man of his time’?
Historian article
In this new, occasional section of The Historian, contributors share their thoughts on matters of public historical debate. We invite our readers to respond, either by writing to the editors at thehistorian@history.org.uk or by writing their own opinion piece. Here, Lorenzo Kamel shares his thoughts on why saying ‘he was a...
Opinion: Who was ‘the man of his time’?
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My Favourite History Place: A Short History of Brill
Historian feature
In this article Josephine Glover discusses the long history of her ‘favourite history place’, the Buckinghamshire village of Brill. She explains how there has been a human settlement there since Mesolithic times. Using various fragments of evidence, she pieces together the extent to which the village was important to early...
My Favourite History Place: A Short History of Brill
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Echoes of Tsushima
Historian article
In 2005 East Asian regional strategy is once again a hot topic for policy makers, diplomats and journalists. As China begins to reassert herself regionally and as her economy revives to challenge conceptions of her place in the world, Japan, Russia, Korea (North and South) and the United States are...
Echoes of Tsushima
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Crowdsourcing the heritage of the Second World War
Historian article
Stuart Lee, Ylva Berglund Prytz and Matthew Kidd introduce an innovative project to capture objects and the memories they hold.
Crowdsourcing the heritage of the Second World War
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Ending Camelot: the assassination of John F Kennedy
Historian article
The murder of America’s thirty-fifth president is often regarded as one of the key events in the recent history of the United States. Numerous conspiracy theories have made it appear more complex, and more mysterious, than was in fact the case.
No event in recent American history has been more comprehensively...
Ending Camelot: the assassination of John F Kennedy
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The portrayal of historians in fiction: people on the edge?
Historian article
In novels featuring history teachers and lecturers, the main characters are usually male, unmarried and with poor mental health. This article provides a rough classification of the different types of pathology displayed, and suggests why this characterisation might be the case.
Of all the texts, Graham Swift’s Waterland (1983) is...
The portrayal of historians in fiction: people on the edge?
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The Mary Celeste: the history of a mystery
Historian article
Graham Faiella guides us through the historical evidence and literary speculation surrounding one of the ultimately unresolved incidents of recent times.
One hundred and fifty years ago, sometime between 25 November and 4 December 1872, the brigantine Mary Celeste was abandoned at sea somewhere between the Azores and the coast of Portugal....
The Mary Celeste: the history of a mystery
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The Coming of War in 1939
Classic Pamphlet
I. The Legacy of Versailles
The Outbreak of a second world war on 1 September 1939 might have been expected to produce in due course a great controversy on ‘war guilt'. But there has been nothing comparable with the debate which took place during the 1920s on the 1914 issues. The...
The Coming of War in 1939
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Tourism: the birth and death of the little Welsh town?
Historian article
Millie Punshon is a sixth form student in North Wales and was one of this year's finalists in the HA's Great Debate public speaking competition.
It is no unknown fact that the Victorian city-slickers adored the north coast of Wales, and without them towns such as Llandudno, Beaumaris, and Betws-y-Coed may not have...
Tourism: the birth and death of the little Welsh town?
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Dress becomes her: the appearance and apparel of Elizabeth II
Historian article
She never carries any money but she does carry a handbag. The way that clothes and fashion choices made by HM The Queen are part of her modern armour and reflect her choices as a monarch as discussed in this article.
As debates about the relevance of the institution of monarchy within Britain...
Dress becomes her: the appearance and apparel of Elizabeth II
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Film: The Partitions of Poland-Lithuania (1772-1795)
Repercussions for German-Polish Relations and their Legacy.
Karin Friedrich recently joined the Virtual Branch to discuss aspects of its complex history in her talk on the partitions of Poland, their repercussions for German-Polish relations and their legacy. Professor Friedrich is chair in Early Modern European History at the University of Aberdeen, co-director of the Centre for Early Modern...
Film: The Partitions of Poland-Lithuania (1772-1795)
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The death of a hero: Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson
Historian article
Michael Crumplin comments on the injuries and illnesses that Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson suffered during his shortened career. His bold leadership style, much admired by his naval companions, inevitably led to a series of wounds. Using a combination of contemporary accounts and current clinical, anatomical and physiological interpretation, this article...
The death of a hero: Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson
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Disease and healthcare on the Isle of Man
Historian article
Caroline Smith provides a perspective, past and present, of the experiences of epidemics on the Isle of Man.
In recent times health has been at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Epidemics and pandemics are not new, but the Covid-19 outbreak is probably the first to have such a noticeable effect...
Disease and healthcare on the Isle of Man
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Monty’s school: the benign side of Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
Historian article
Field-Marshal Montgomery has a reputation as a strong-willed battle-hardened leader, with a touch of the impetuous. Few know of his charitable side and yet in his later years this side was just as important to his activities. In this article we find out a bit more of this often simplistically...
Monty’s school: the benign side of Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
