Category Archives: history in the news

In recent years there has been considerable speculation about the Black Death. In particular, some historians have argued that it was not actually Bubonic plague at all. A good introduction to this can be found in the Scott / Duncan book The … Continue reading →

There are many things I liked about Patrick Collinson.  I always viewed him as a proper historian who was greatly underestimated, not least becasue of his association with Sir John Neale. He did in fact have an original mind, and for … Continue reading →

A really interesting article from the BBC on Churchill here. In it,  John Gray argues that “a strange conjunction of events…(Churchill’s depression)… his black dog – together with the intervention of a loyal friend during a few fateful days in early … Continue reading →

Well perhaps. I found my A Level Economics rather too demanding to make an informed comment. Some, like William Keegan in The Observer clearly think that we are heading for very choppy waters. He argues that it is all “getting serious”, … Continue reading →

In August I posted some reactions to Starkey’s comments about the riots on Newsnight. I asked then  why when major events happen do we turn to historians to explain them. This article from the Daily Telegraph really asks the same question. … Continue reading →

This BBC article explains how archaeologists  have worked out the location of the tomb for the original builders of Stonehenge (in Wales). Professor Wainwright  comments “It can be compared directly with the first Stonehenge, so for the first time we have a … Continue reading →

It is always good when something orginal happens close to home so, it this report from the Reading Post is really exciting. As the report states  “Reading will become the first place in the world to create an online history of itself … Continue reading →

You often get more informed and reflective comment in the Sunday newspapers. So it seems here in this week’s Observer. Historian and MP for Stoke Central, Tristram Hunt, writes about falling numbers of GCSE and A Level History students. For me he … Continue reading →

Eric Schmidt (Google chairman), has recently condemned the UK education system.  He claims that we tend to separate students into ‘science’ and ‘humanities’ categories too much.  According to Schmidt, instead we should be encouraging more to become ‘polymaths’ – people … Continue reading →

At this time every year there is a conversation in the media about grade inflation and “hard” V “soft” subjects. In truth it is a more complex topic than some would have us believe. However one fact shines through – … Continue reading →