British history

• 
• 11/20/2022
  

  Does Novelist Robert Keable Deserve a Reappraisal?

  by Simon Keable-Elliott

  Briefly celebrated in the 1920s, then consigned to posthumous obscurity, the missionary and novelist, whose experiences encompassed the collision of colonialism, war and racism in the British empire, is overdue for rediscovery. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  10/17/2022
  

  Why Liz Truss Couldn't Channel Margaret Thatcher

  by Robert Ralston

  Truss couldn't claim to present a solution to British decline because she took over as Prime Minister as an insider to a party seen as the agents of that decline. 

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Review
  10/7/2022
  

  Hilary Mantel, Historian

  by Samuel Clowes Huneke

  The celebrated novelist legacy to scholars is a model for examining psychological complexity and political motivation in the past. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Republic
  9/27/2022
  

  The Ostensibly Apolitical Nature of the Royals Explains Americans' Obsession

  by Suzanne Schneider

  The Royals appeal to an American fantasy of power without politics, in which civility and decorum conceal the process of determining a society's winners and losers. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  9/19/2022
  

  Queen's Funeral Reflects Centuries of Ritual

  by Emilie M. Brinkman

  Since the rise of the Tudor dynasty, the occasion of a royal funeral has been an opportunity for the successor to demonstrate their authority by ostentation and pomp in remembrance of a predecessor. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  9/19/2022
  

  When the News of a Royal Death Arrived Slowly, it Changed American History

  by Helena Yoo Roth

  The void of power in the American colonies created by rumor of the death of King George II was critical to loosening the monarchy's claims to rule in North America. 

• 
• 9/18/2022
  

  Boris Johnson's Legacy? It's Complicated

  by Luke Reader

  The British constitution depends on adherence to norms and tradition commonly called the "good chap" principle. Johnson's ministry raised troubling questions about what happens when No. 10 Downing is occupied by a different sort of chap. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/8/2022
  

  Mourn the Queen, Not the Empire

  by Maya Jasanoff

  As the head of the postwar British Commonwealth, the Queen symbolized the effort to put the brakes on the global wave of decolonization, including deadly and secret campaigns of state violence in Northern Ireland, Kenya, and elsewhere.

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  9/11/2022
  

  Queen Elizabeth's Leadership and the Future of the Monarchy

  Historian Arianne Chernock says that much of the late Queen's perception as a successful monarch can be attributed to her embrace of the British value of stoicism and, less positively, of stereotypically feminine qualities. 

• 
• SOURCE: Foreign Policy
  9/12/2022
  

  Queen Not Innocent of Empire's Sins

  by Howard W. French

  "I bear no ill will toward her following her death. Her empire—and empires more generally—though is another matter."

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  9/12/2022
  

  For Many Scholars, Queen's Legacy Inseparable from Colonialism

  Vanderbilt's Moses Ochonu and Wisconsin's Mou Banerjee argue that the Queen's passing calls attention to unfinished business of acknowledging the violence of the British Empire—violence the Queen's image helped to conceal. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Guardian
  9/11/2022
  

  Have the Tories Moved on from the Royals?

  by David Edgerton

  The Conservative Party has turned toward a right-wing nationalism that has little use for the symbolism of the royals as the head of the wider British Commonwealth. 

• 
• 9/4/2022
  

  Is it Deja Vu All Over Again with "Appeasing Dictators," or Time for A New Lens?

  by Charles Spicer

  Invoking Chamberlain and appeasement is never a particularly useful response to an international crisis. Do the efforts, albeit unsuccessful, of a small group of British diplomatic outsiders to "civilize" leading Nazis, point in a better direction? 

• 
• SOURCE: The Baffler
  8/18/2022
  

  Ailing Empires: The Rhetoric of Decline in Britain and the US

  by Jed Esty

  If the US is following behind Great Britain in experiencing the strains of a collapsing empire, can Americans, their leaders, and their thinkers learn any lessons from the comparison and make a post-imperial society that is more humane and less nasty? 

• 
• 8/21/2022
  

  In Search of the Ladies-in-Waiting to Anne Boleyn

  by Sylvia Barbara Soberton

  Paying attention to the women who surrounded Anne Boleyn helps to clarify myths and misunderstandings about her elevation and her demise. 

• 
• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  8/4/2022
  

  Revisiting Lady Rochford and Her Alleged Betrayal of Anne Boleyn

  Sylvia Barbara Soberton's new book argues that Jane Boleyn, long blamed for the accusations against her husband George and sister-in-law Anne that led to their deaths, has been unfairly scapegoated. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Conversation
  6/30/2022
  

  One Thing the US and Britain Share? Serious Racial Wealth Gaps

  by Calvin Schermerhorn

  In neither nation can inequality be seen as simply a legacy of enslavement; policy decisions in the more recent past have promoted the wealth gap. 

• 
• 7/3/2022
  

  The Traitor King: Edward VIII and The Future of the British Monarchy

  by Andrew Lownie

  The author of a new book on the post-royal lives of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson says that the hard lesson they learned—the brand comes before the family—will see the Royal Family through to a future despite scandal and resignation. 

• 
• SOURCE: London Review of Books
  6/9/2022
  

  The Enduring Appeal of the BBC's "Desert Island Discs" – the Longest Running Interview Show

  The famous and would-be famous have faced the dilemma of telling the world about themselves by listing the records (and luxury items) they'd want with them on a desert island; post-1951 episodes are now available as podcasts.

• 
• 6/12/2022
  

  As an Island, Britain Became a Stage for Roman Politicians

  by Richard Hingley

  The conquest of Britain mattered to Roman emperors not for the island's strategic significance, but because it signaled a ruler's mastery of the ancient deity Oceanus and thus his worthiness in domestic politics.