When I finally switched off from a day of online meetings on Wednesday I thought I’d relax by watching some gentle TV. Then a prompt from a friend on social media made me switch over to a new channel, the BBC at first and then CNN. Within moments I was hooked in to the drama... Continue Reading →
Getty Images: Man dressed as a " Viking" storms the US Capitol While the world reels from the attempt by right-wing insurrectionists to storm the US Capitol, I'd like to draw the attention of my students studying Medieval Chivalry and its Afterlives to this striking image of a man dressed as a pseudo-Viking. Jake Angeli,... Continue Reading →
At the weekend ‘thousands of people took to the streets of central London and held a rally in Trafalgar Square. The numbers involved are disputed: ‘about a 1,000’ said most news reports, but I’ve seen posts on social media saying that there were 35,000 protesting in Nelson’s shadow. They were there to protest about the... Continue Reading →
Even a cursory engagement with British history would be enough to remind us that we are a fairly rebellious people when we are told what we should or shouldn’t do. There is a proud tradition of standing up for our ‘rights’ even if, for the most part, those rights are nowhere defined in a written... Continue Reading →
Today we start a series of personal blog posts from staff and students reacting to the killing of George Floyd and the protests here and around the world. The first of these is from Ursula, who has just completed her second year of study for a degree in History at the University of Northampton. NB: Ursula's... Continue Reading →
‘We live in societies where the positive freedom to act as we wish is perhaps our central concern. Whatever the professed fears f global warning, or the expressed sympathies with the poor and downtrodden, the willingness actively to change our way of living is the province of only a small minority. For most, the everyday... Continue Reading →
Dominic Cummings has been in the news lately, you may have noticed. He drove, whilst infected with COVID-19, from Islington to County Durham, with his family. He then took them on a tour of County Durham, whilst infected, and after having been discovered defended his actions, supported by the PM and the government he advises.... Continue Reading →
History is supposed to give us a sense of perspective, some way of understanding current events by looking backwards, at those in the past. I’ve seen some very good articles, comments and blogs on the 1919 ‘Spanish Flu’ pandemic (which wasn’t Spanish at all of course), and some reflections on how our ancestors coped with... Continue Reading →
Senior lecturer Mark Rothery writes about his recent interactions with the media, and what that means for historical research. Mark also discussed some of these themes on TALKRadio -select the 4:30-5:00 clip and go to three minutes in. On 4th February this year the new Times Online history correspondent published an article called ‘Snowflakes are... Continue Reading →
