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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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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 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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Connecting poetry, philosophy and landscapes in Ancient China
Historian article
It is unusual for historians to focus primarily on poetry to provide insights into the past societies they are studying. Here Nicholas Tyldesley explains the value of poetry to help us understand the ideas, values and some important historical events in Ancient China, with a particular focus on poets Li...
Connecting poetry, philosophy and landscapes in Ancient China
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The Historian 160: Out now!
The magazine of the Historical Association
Read The Historian 160: Sport in History
This edition of The Historian has a focus on sport in history. A story told by Duncan Stone in his article here suggests that this particular theme may need some justification, as an eminent professor dismissed a doctoral study of the history of cricket...
The Historian 160: Out now!
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Britain and the First World War: not just battles
Historian feature
When the First World War started in the summer of 1914 it began a series of events that would change the world for ever; it also accelerated changes and ideas that were already underway. In some cases, big issues appeared to be put to one side while the immediate needs of...
Britain and the First World War: not just battles
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The Historian 158: Out now
The magazine of the Historical Association
Read The Historian 158: Music
Anniversaries provide enticing opportunities for historians and the public to reflect on moments from our collective past. For choral music lovers this year is significant as it is the four hundredth anniversary of the death of the Tudor composer William Byrd, which is being marked by...
The Historian 158: Out now
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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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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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History Abridged: The medieval origins of university
Historian feature
History Abridged: In this feature we take a person, time, theme or event and tell you the vast rich history in small space. A long dip into history in a shortened form. See all History Abridged articles
Medieval history can suffer from an image problem. Even a conventional name for the period...
History Abridged: The medieval origins of university
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The Spanish-American War revisited: rise of an American empire?
Historian article
Anthony Ruggiero reveals how United States foreign policy evolved from its effective adherence to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 into securing its own overseas ‘empire’.
The Spanish-American War of 1898 was pivotal in launching the United States into recognition as an empire. Following the war, the United Sates accepted its role...
The Spanish-American War revisited: rise of an American empire?
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My Favourite History Place: The Tenement Museum, New York
Historian feature
The Tenement Museum is not remotely like any museum I had previously visited. It is an old tenement building where generations of New York migrants lived and loved, worked and had families before moving both on and out. The Tenement Museum tells the story of the Lower East Side through the...
My Favourite History Place: The Tenement Museum, New York
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The Historian 156: Out now
The magazine of the Historical Association
Read The Historian 156
The sadness that came with the death of our patron Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is tinged with our appreciation of her willingness many years ago to become our patron. Some of our older members will remember that she and the Duke of Edinburgh attended our...
The Historian 156: Out now
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What did ‘Mature Socialism’ mean for the Soviet Union?
Historian article
David Shipp analyses the state of socialism in the Soviet Union, from Brezhnev to Chernenko.
‘What is he thinking of? Reform, reform. Who needs it, and who can understand it? We need to work better, that is the only problem.’
These reported words of Leonid Brezhnev epitomise the view of the period...
What did ‘Mature Socialism’ mean for the Soviet Union?
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History Abridged: London’s women statues
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. See all History Abridged articles
We live in a seemingly iconoclastic age. Statues that were once part of the established...
History Abridged: London’s women statues
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Out and About in ‘The most Loyal and Ancient City of Taunton’
Historian feature
The Somerset town of Taunton featured prominently in the highly significant political and religious conflicts of the seventeenth century. Isabella Peach examines Taunton’s role in these events and the impact they had on the town. Her article is based on her winning entry in the 2023 Young Historian Post-16 Local...
Out and About in ‘The most Loyal and Ancient City of Taunton’
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Out and About in Madagascar
Historian feature
Madagascar is one of the world’s more intriguing destinations. If it is famous for anything – apart from sharing a name with a truly terrible film franchise – it is probably for its wildlife, much of which is found nowhere else. But whereas most people have at least an idea of...
Out and About in Madagascar
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The many queens of Ancient Egypt
Historian article
Joyce Tyldesley explains the significant but often hidden roles played by queens in Ancient Egypt.
For almost 3,000 years – from the unification of the land in 3100 BC to the arrival of Alexander the Great in 332 BC – the king (or pharaoh) of Egypt served as an essential...
The many queens of Ancient Egypt
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Harriet Kettle, Victorian rebel
Historian article
Harriet Kettle had a remarkable life. She was on the receiving end of everything that the institutions of social control in Victorian England could throw at her, but resisted, survived and fought back.
Harriet’s defiance earned her references in the records of a workhouse, two prisons, two asylums and, in...
Harriet Kettle, Victorian rebel
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Out and About: The castles of Castle Cary
Historian feature
In this article, Chris Culpin explores the surprising story behind Castle Cary’s long-vanished castles. Through conquest, rebellion, siege, and demolition, Castle Cary’s forgotten castles reveal a dramatic chapter of local and national history...
Out and About: The castles of Castle Cary
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Old age care in the time of crisis: London in the sixteenth century
Historian article
In her lecture to the General Strand of the HA Conference, Christine Fox describes the successes and failures of London institutions in dealing with the sixteenth-century crisis of poverty and elderly care.
In late medieval and early modern thinking, human life was divided into three stages; youth, maturity, and old age. The latter...
Old age care in the time of crisis: London in the sixteenth century
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More than skin deep: unmasking the history of cold cream
Historian article
From the ancient Mediterranean to the shelves of twenty-first century pharmacies and cosmetic counters, cold cream has a long history. In this article, Farhana Qayoom Shaikh explores how Galen’s simple formula for treating skin complaints transitioned over the centuries into a luxury beauty product.
More than skin deep: unmasking the history of cold cream
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Losing sight of the bigger picture: public policy and the visual arts
Historian article
From the 1940s to the late twentieth century, the visual arts in England were promoted and encouraged in a variety of ways by politicians and other policymakers, at both national and local level. Recent decades have seen a marginalisation of the arts, particularly in education. In this article Pauline Wood...
Losing sight of the bigger picture: public policy and the visual arts
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My Favourite History Place: Swarkestone Bridge
Historian feature
Trevor James reveals his continued fascination with this major Midland scheduled monument.
Almost 40 years ago, my role as a Nottingham University extra-mural tutor took me to Melbourne in Derbyshire. For the first few weeks I followed a cross-country route to Melbourne, via Burton-upon-Trent, Woodville and Hartshorne, but, on a dark November...
My Favourite History Place: Swarkestone Bridge
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Out and About: The Black Country Living Museum
Historian feature
In this article, Rob Pritchard reflects on his long-standing engagement with the Black Country Living Museum, exploring how visits to this ‘living history’ site transformed his approach to teaching history...
Out and About: The Black Country Living Museum
