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Why was it so important to see Dunkirk as a triumph rather than a disaster in 1940?
Historian article
Karin Doull investigates the perceptions of the outcome of the Dunkirk evacuation within the contextual framework of the time at which it occurred.
In May 1940 the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and a proportion of the French First Army group had withdrawn, under heavy fighting to the port of Dunkirk on the...
Why was it so important to see Dunkirk as a triumph rather than a disaster in 1940?
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Sparta and war: myths and realities
Historian article
Stephen Hodkinson explains how images of ancient Sparta have been distorted and misused.
On 15 April 2017, at a violent right-wing rally in Berkeley, California, some striking ancient Greek symbols were visible amidst the swastikas and ‘Make America Great Again’ hats. Several demonstrators wore replica ‘Corinthian’ helmets, as worn by...
Sparta and war: myths and realities
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The Diabolical Cato-Street Plot
Historian article
Richard A. Gaunt reminds us that it is still possible to visit the site of a notorious conspiratorial challenge to Lord Liverpool’s government, and why this event was so significant.
At around 7.30pm on Wednesday 23 February 1820, a dozen Bow Street Runners in plain clothes, led by George Thomas...
The Diabolical Cato-Street Plot
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‘Cromwell’s trunks’
Historian article
Ted Vallance discusses the extent to which Richard Cromwell was able to muster broader support for his rule than is sometimes acknowledged.
If the second Lord Protector, Richard Cromwell, is remembered at all, it is as a byword for political failure. Succeeding to the position of head of state after his father, Oliver Cromwell’s death in September...
‘Cromwell’s trunks’
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The LGBT civil rights movement in Britain
Historian article
This article has been created from the podcast of the same name on this website by Professor Sally R. Munt, University of Sussex. It has been put into article form by Paula Kitching, and the factual and arguments of the piece are those of the original author.
The LGBT civil rights movement in Britain
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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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Populism, Progressivism and Trumpism
Historian article
Populism, Progressivism and Trumpism: third party, inter-party and intraparty candidates in campaigns for the American presidency
Michael Dunne explores the complexities of American presidential political campaigning over the last 200 years.
Vox populi, vox dei. The voice of the people is the voice of God. Since these words were first...
Populism, Progressivism and Trumpism
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Will China Democratise?
Historian article
Michael T. Davis compares the parallels between the democratic expectations, or possibilities, of modern-day China with Britain's democratic evolution from the eighteenth century to the emerging democracy of the nineteenth century.
The future is an unfamiliar place for historians. Yet we stand on the edge of an historic shift away...
Will China Democratise?
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Podcast Series: The Renaissance
The Renaissance
In this podcast Dr Gabriele Neher of the University of Nottingham provides an introduction to the Renaissance.
Podcast Series: The Renaissance
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Podcast Series: The Early Georgians
Multipage Article
In this podcast Lucy Worsley of Historic Royal Palaces looks at the early Georgians, the changing relationship between Parliament and Monarchy and Court Politics under George I and George II.
Podcast Series: The Early Georgians
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Limited Monarchy in Great Britain in the Eighteenth Century
Classic Pamphlet
There was hardly anything in Great Britain which political thinkers on the continent of Europe in the eighteenth century admired more than its limited monarchy. But what were the limitations? Were they deliberate or not? Were they effected by acts of parliament or by the silent encroachments of usage? Did...
Limited Monarchy in Great Britain in the Eighteenth Century
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Film: Brezhnev's early life and career
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film Dr Edwin Bacon takes us through Brezhnev’s early life and career: his birth in Ukraine in 1906, the opportunities brought by the revolution, his role in the battle of Ukraine and his eventual arrival to the Politburo at the end of the 1950s. Dr Bacon looks at...
Film: Brezhnev's early life and career
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Film: Lenin's origins
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in 1870. This film takes us through his middle-class origins, how he was radicalised by the world he saw around him, especially following the execution of his brother, and how the future politician and revolutionary developed amongst the extremes of Imperial Russian society.
In...
Film: Lenin's origins
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Film series: Tudor Royal Authority
Development of Tudor Royal Authority film series
In this film, Professor Sue Doran, Jesus College, University of Oxford, discusses provides an overview of how Tudor Royal Authority developed and evolved from the first Tudor King, Henry VII, to the final Tudor Queen, Elizabeth I.
Film series: Tudor Royal Authority
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White heat or hot air? The politics of science in 1960s Britain
Historian article
Britain in the 1960s was captivated by scientific advancements. The public interest in ‘science’ was reflected in popular culture during this period. This zeitgeist for scientific revolution also captured aspects of British politics. The government of Harold Wilson sought to encourage scientific progress. Yet the difference between political aims and...
White heat or hot air? The politics of science in 1960s Britain
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The nature of Charles I’s government
Historian article
Charlotte Brownhill explores the nature of Charles I’s government. Rather than dismissing this as a disaster, she argues that there were many positive features of his government before the outbreak of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and suggests that we should consider the difficulties caused by the complexities of...
The nature of Charles I’s government
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The Exclusion Crisis (1679–81)
Historian article
The Exclusion Crisis in the reign of King Charles II was a fierce struggle over the issue of whether the King’s Catholic brother James should be the heir to the throne. At the same time, circumstances promoted an outpouring of polemical pamphlets on a massive scale. Here Gregory Gifford examines...
The Exclusion Crisis (1679–81)
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Political and social attitudes underpinning the 1924 Olympics
Historian article
The 1924 Olympics in Paris are best known to many British people through the ‘Chariots of Fire’ film from the early 1980s. The film touches on some of the political and social attitudes prevalent in the 1920s and Steve Illingworth explores these issues further in this article. It is argued...
Political and social attitudes underpinning the 1924 Olympics
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Why White Liberals Fail: United States politics in an election year
Historian feature
Paula Kitching interview with Professor Anthony J. Badger about his latest book.
2024 is an election year in the United States. For many in the UK and around the world the US political system can be confusing, with simple processes seemingly more complex than you would expect. It is not just the system...
Why White Liberals Fail: United States politics in an election year
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Bonapartism after Napoleon III: the Prince Imperial and Eugene Loudun
Historian article
Emperor Napoleon III of France was deposed in 1870 and then died three years later. His son, known as the Prince Imperial, lived in exile in south-east England. There he and his supporters kept alive ambitions for a triumphant return of the Empire. In this article, Ian Sygrave assesses the...
Bonapartism after Napoleon III: the Prince Imperial and Eugene Loudun
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Women and the French Revolution: the start of the modern feminist movement
Historian article
Luke Rimmo Loyi Lego explores the role of women in the French Revolution, and how their challenges to traditional gender roles laid the foundations for the modern feminist movement.
The study of the French Revolution is often restricted to its impact on the Enlightenment ideas of influential men such as Rousseau,...
Women and the French Revolution: the start of the modern feminist movement
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Mountbatten in retirement: the abortive trip to rebel Rhodesia
Historian article
Adrian Smith investigates an abortive plan for the earl to intervene in Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
Earl Mountbatten of Burma boasted a unique CV: Chief of Combined Operations, Supreme Commander South-East Asia, Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord, Chief of the Defence Staff, and Viceroy of India. Yet somehow...
Mountbatten in retirement: the abortive trip to rebel Rhodesia
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Podcast Series: Thomas Paine
Multipage Article
In this set of podcasts Emeritus Professor W. A. Speck of the University of Leeds looks at the life and ideas of Thomas Paine.
Podcast Series: Thomas Paine
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How Sweden almost became a nuclear-armed state – and why it didn’t
Historian article
This article examines the conditions under which Sweden considered and subsequently pursued nuclear weapons. After failing to secure the establishment of a Scandinavian defence union, the Swedish government initially viewed nuclear arms as an effective means to safeguard the country’s neutrality. Owing to technical limitations, reassessments on the value of such...
How Sweden almost became a nuclear-armed state – and why it didn’t
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Sweden’s forgotten revolution
Historian article
People are sometimes surprised to learn that for much of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century, Sweden was one of Europe’s great powers. The revolution that transformed Swedish government following the death of Karl XII at the end of the Great Northern War is still less widely-known. But though largely carried...
Sweden’s forgotten revolution
