English History

During my degree I spent a year studying 19th Century history, and part of this involved assessing the change in British politics and society. During this period my own ideas of history evolved, moving away from a “top-down” political approach to a more social “from-below” approach. Perhaps this is the only way that I can […]

Recently I’ve been covering the change in world power status between Britain and the United States on the FDA programme. The discussions have been really interesting, digging down into the British Empire itself: did people support it, and was it even a real actual thing?? After the discussion I realised that I had touched upon […]

The Crimean War appears to have become one of those forgotten wars of the past: people can sometimes connect a name or a event, but not really have an understanding as to why Britain went to war with Russia. The immediate images that come to mind are that of Florence Nightingale, balaclavas (named after the […]

The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 has the odd distinction of being the shortest war in the history of the world: it was over in under an hour, with some estimates placing it at 38 minutes. Quite a different span of time when compared to the likes of the Thirty Years’ War or the Hundred Years’ War. […]

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks reading up on the Norman invasion and its impact on English history. This is in connection to research on the role of the Norman earls of Cornwall during the 11th-12th centuries. I’ve found myself engrossed in the Norman ducal/royal family and their constant intrigue and back-stabbing of one […]

William Rufus was the second Norman king of England, reigning from the death of the William the Conqueror in 1087 to his death in 1100. His death – being hit by an arrow whilst hunting in the New Forest – has never failed to engage historians and lay-readers, probably due to the oddity of the […]

I recently posted about how 2018 marks fifty years since Enoch Powell’s infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech. Coincidentally, I had also planned an Access to Higher Education module surrounding the speech whilst unaware of the approaching anniversary. I had toyed with the idea of re-engaging with an earlier degree essay to see if I could […]

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Enoch Powell’s infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech. The speech that is seen by many as a landmark in terms of post-war race relations in Britain, and is regularly returned to by those who hail the modern multi-cultural society and – conversely – those who condemn the idea of a […]

The Tudor period has always been a fruitful one for studying and reading. It is filled with everything the history enthusiast could ever need: plots and rebellions, tyrants and schemers, along with a whole host of era-defining events. One of the most fascinating factors is that of political intrigue: of the various rises in factions […]

This week I’ve been covering the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Here we have a woman in a man’s world attempting to outwit those around her: the religious extremists, the nobles in the country, and the foreign monarchs who wish to see her head on a platter (yes, Philip II, I’m looking at you!). It’s […]