British history

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• 7/3/2020
  

  Book Review: Erik Larsen, 'The Splendid and the Vile'

  by Jeff Roquen

  In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson has not only produced an engaging and timely portrait of the perilous period of when Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany but has also illuminated how tragedy and loss can be turned into a triumph and justice through steadfast determination and solidarity of purpose.  

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  6/24/2020
  

  Britain's Persistent Racism Cannot Simply Be Explained by its Imperial History

  by David Edgerton

  It played its part, but empire does not explain all of Britain’s record of elitism, exploitation and discrimination.

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• SOURCE: TIME
  6/22/2020
  

  Britain Celebrates 'Windrush Day' Amid Broader Reckoning on Race

  by Billy Perrigo

  Here's what to know about the history and significance of this British celebration.

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• SOURCE: Reuters
  6/11/2020
  

  Find Better Ways To Depict History, Says South African #RhodesMustFall Activist

  Countries must find more creative ways to depict their history than statues that glorify racists and colonialists, a founder of South Africa’s successful Rhodes Must Fall movement said on Thursday.

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  6/10/2020
  

  Toppling Edward Colston’s Statue is Unlikely to be Enough to Stop Public Anger

  Inaction over figures such as Colston had bred anger that would be felt “all over Britain”, said Andrea Livesey, a historian specialising in the study of slavery and its legacies and who described the events in Bristol as “wholly justified”.

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• SOURCE: CNN
  6/10/2020
  

  Britain's Imperialist Monuments Face a Bitter Reckoning Amid Black Lives Matter Protests

  After protestors took down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston this past Sunday and dumped it in the River Avon, many are reconsidering what should happen to statues of similar individuals, who profited from the suffering of so many.

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• SOURCE: Verso
  3/31/2020
  

  Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before: A Study in the Politics and Aesthetics of English Misery

  by Owen Hatherley

  Owen Hatherley reflects on the last two UK general elections by charting the musical evolution of The Smiths.

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  3/23/2020
  

  Malcolm Chase, 1957-2020

  The social historian Malcolm Chase rejected “the enormous condescension of posterity” often to be found in history written by the educated rich.

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• SOURCE: The New York Times
  3/8/2020
  

  Ah, Tea. So Relaxing. But Its History Is Another Story.

  A room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art tells the story of tea and politics, from China to Britain and that “party” in Boston.

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  2/25/2020
  

  On Behalf of All 'Future Historians,’ Leave Us Out of Your Brexit Rants

  by Charlotte Lydia Riley

  The people who invoke historians of the future are less keen on listening to actually existing historians today.

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• SOURCE: NY Times
  2/25/20
  

  How Churchill Brought Britain Back From the Brink: Erik Larson's Book Reviewed in NY Times

  A review of THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  1/30/20
  

  Why Britain Brexited

  by Tom McTague

  For decades, the country has struggled with the challenge facing the modern nation-state: how to balance control and influence.

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• SOURCE: NY Times
  1/10/20
  

  Boris Johnson Might Break Up the U.K. That’s a Good Thing.

  by David Edgerton

  It’s time to let the fantasy of the “British nation” die.

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• SOURCE: Time
  1/14/20
  

  Hundreds of Britons Volunteered for a Diary-Keeping Project in 1937. They Left an Invaluable Record of World War II

  The hundreds of unpaid volunteers who participated filled out a series of questionnaires and made regular diary entries. They wrote about the intimate details of their lives as well as their thoughts and feelings about the world around them. 

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• SOURCE: Telegraph
  1/7/20
  

  British National Archives to trial 12-document limit per day for visitors, as academics warn research could be affected

  The National Archives claimed the move was designed to increase efficiency - but faced an immediate backlash from historians who complained their work could become untenable. 

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• SOURCE: BBC News
  1/5/20
  

  Why fewer US students want to learn about UK these days

  Once a bastion of English and History departments, the British studies discipline is waning as American students increasingly put career goals over their love of Charles Dickens, writes James Jeffrey.

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• SOURCE: BBC History Extra
  12/30/19
  

  Sobriety, royal presents and Victorian-era musings on failure: an unexpected history of New Year

  Today, we associate New Year’s Eve with raucous and optimistic parties, followed the next day by hungover resolutions to change our ways in the months ahead. But New Year celebrations haven’t always been so.

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• 12/22/19
  

  Brexit and the End of the United Kingdom

  by Ed Simon

  Because of Boris Johnson’s ascendancy, it must be considered that it is not only inevitable that there won’t be a United Kingdom again, but that it’s necessary that there shouldn’t be. 

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• 12/19/19
  

  Reform or Revolution: England’s Lessons of 1688 for Today and Tonight's Democratic Debate

  by David Walter Leinweber

  As we go forward into the holidays, and then a contentious election, the English example in 1688 continues to provide an important lesson. We can cherish our history and institutions, while still being clear-eyed about necessary changes.  

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  12/1/2019
  

  Michael Howard, Eminent British Military Historian, Dies at 97

  A decorated soldier in World War II, he helped reshape the study of war and was knighted in 1986 for his academic work.