Does David Starkey put people off academic history ?

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Mr Kydd

DAVID-STARKEY-RAPE-570David Starkey is unquestionably one of, if not the best known historian in Britain today. He also has a reputation for being one of the rudest men in the public eye. Indeed, The Huffington Post recently described him as Katie Hopkins with a PHD. I have posted articles about his high profile before on heathen history, and you can find them here and here. This week he has managed to get himself into a row on Radio 4 about the Magna Carta where he concluded that he was right and that should be the end of the matter because “I’m a great historian.” You can find an account of it here.

Have a read and see what you think – does David Starkey help bring people to academic history, or does his approach push them away ?

Mr Kydd.

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FiveThirtyEight / Manifestos

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Mr Kydd

indexObviously there is so much being written about the pending election, and some of you will have the vote.  As such, the following websites might be helpful to you.

If you click here you will get to the FiveThirtyEight website. This is an interactive map  forecasting results for next Thursday’s vote. It is updated as poll data comes in. The darker the colour, the more secure the party’s majority in that seat.

In alphabetical order you can find links to party manifestos below.

The Conservative Party Manifesto

The Green Party Manifesto

The Labour Party Manifesto

The Liberal Democratic Party Manifesto

The UKIP Party Manifesto

Mr Kydd.

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70 years ago / BBC timeline

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Mr Kydd

red flag70 years ago today Hitler shot himself in his bunker. If you click here you will get an article from The Independent by Rose Troup Buchanan exploring some facts surrounding the Nazi leader’s final hours. Here Lily Rothman explores Time Magazine archives to explain how the world learnt the news. Both articles are worth reading.

However, more directly useful for our course as it comes to a conclusion is this excellent interactive timeline from the BBC. Entitled Hitler – Man and Monster, it provides both a strong summary to our work and some first class hard evidence. It is designed to support the BBC2 series The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler. The first episode can be found on the iplayer here.

Mr Kydd.

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Examination dates

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Mr Kydd

exam-imageAll,

Please find your examination dates shown below.

 

 

 

Monday 27th April (am)            Year Ten (internal) mock paper.

Wednesday 13th May (pm)         AS Paper 1, USA

Wednesday 20th May (pm)         AS Paper 2, British

HALF TERM

Monday 1st June (am)                   AS G&P, Paper 1

GCSE, International Relations & USA

Thursday 4th June (pm)                AS G&P, Paper 2

Monday 8th June (am)                  A2 Paper 3, Germany

Monday 8th June (pm)                  A2 G&P, Paper 3A

Wednesday 10th June (am)         GCSE, British Depth Study

Wednesday 17th June (am)         A2 G&P, Paper 4A

 

Mr Kydd.

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Book Review – Backing Hitler. Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Mr Kydd

backing-hitlerFollowing on from our work on consent to Nazi rule 1933 – 1939, you might like to read this review of Robert Gellately’s 1990 text “Backing Hitler. Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany” by Conan Fischer. In it, amongst other arguments, he explains how Gellately demonstrates “conclusively that the much feared and allegedly omnipresent Gestapo in fact relied on widespread public support to function effectively“.

This reinforces the idea that the Nazis controlled Germany in three main ways: terror, achievements and propaganda. It really was consent and coercion.

Mr Kydd.

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Model interpretations paragraph – was Nazi government was too chaotic to allow Hitler to be a strong leader?

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Mr Kydd

adolf-hitler-sleepingOnce again a huge thank you to Jade for copying up the class work. This model interpretations paragraph that we worked on in class can be found here . You should look at it before undertaking your Easter mock examination.

Mr Kydd.

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Useful documentaries

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Mr Kydd

All,

 

As promised.

1. Reputations – Albert Speer – The Nazi who said sorry.

 

2. The fatal attraction of Adolf Hitler

3. Twin Tyrants

 

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Which way should you vote ?

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Mr Kydd

voteWith the election pending, try this test to see how your opinions fit in with the current political parties and their policies. It helps explain that politics is relevant to your life and that without realising it you do care and understand more than you know. Please make sure that you are registered and then use your vote.

I side with

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Agincourt, Waterloo and the Magna Carta

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Mr Kydd

TW4294282015 is of course very much a year of anniversaries, and I thought that I would use this post to collect some of the better articles.

This article from the Daily Telegraph is a good start. It looks at the Magna Carta and asks “what exactly is Magna Carta? Why was it granted? Does it really speak to the principles of democracy, liberty and human rights with which it is so often associated? And what is the purpose of the charter – if it has one – today?”

This article (also from the Daily Telegraph) attempts to explain  Why we must remember the bloody cost of Waterloo.

Click here for the BBC Radio 4 In Our Time programme where Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Battle of Agincourt.”Owre kynge went forth to Normandy, With grace and myyt of chivalry; The God for hym wrouyt marvelously, Wherefore Englonde may calle, and cry Deo gratias: Deo gratias redde pro victoria.” The great victory was Agincourt as described in the Agincourt Carol, when the ‘happy few’ of the English army of King Henry V vanquished the French forces on St Crispin’s Day 1415. It is a battle that has resounded through the centuries and has been used by so many to mean so much. But how important was the battle in the strategic struggles of the time? What were the pressures at home that drove Henry’s march through France? And what is the cultural legacy of Agincourt?” 

Enjoy,

Mr Kydd.

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Nazi propaganda posters

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Mr Kydd

doveFollowing on from today’s lesson, have a look at this collection of Nazi propaganda poster (upto 1933). Later posters can be found here (1933 – 1939) and here (1939 – 1945). The first page is most useful to us at this stage. Note how different groups are targeted with different messages.

Mr Kydd.

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