Blogs

If I ran the country, I’d throw Halloween on the bonfire
[31st October 2011 - 08.00]
When I lived in Sheffield some years ago, Halloween was a night to be feared and dreaded. As night fell, packs of feral children roamed the streets...
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Paying our MPs has proved an utter failure
[17th January 2011 - 08.00]
Since the New Year always brings with it a spate of interest in anniversaries, perhaps we can start 2011 with one likely to raise a scowl in the vast...
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Ignore the killjoys – Christmas has a long and prosperous future
[9th December 2010 - 09.00]
I love Christmas. As a child, I spent hours puzzling over my list for Father Christmas. As the holiday approached, I diligently circled the...
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The jury's still out on Thatcher's legacy
[23rd November 2010 - 17.03]
Appropriately enough, we were in a history class, waiting for our teacher Roy Allen, when we got the news. “Have you heard?” he said,...
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Whitewashing black historical figures demeans us all
[3rd October 2010 - 07.50]
When the Jamaican-born nurse Mary Seacole returned to London at the end of the Crimean War, she cut a sadly reduced figure. Pursued by creditors, she...
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Who needs washerwomen when you’ve got Spitfires and Drake?
[9th September 2010 - 07.00]
Contemplating this summer’s great explosion of interest in the Battle of Britain, I was reminded of an ancient exam script that came to light...
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For all their flaws, I admire Britain’s empire builders
[2nd August 2010 - 08.53]
Ever since I was a boy, I have remembered the opening paragraph of one of my favourite books almost by heart. “It is a curious thing,”...
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Politicians have been scared of discussing immigration for years
[7th July 2010 - 10.00]
Britain, as this month’s issue reminds us, has long been a country of immigrants. Far-right groups like the British National Party may mutter...
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Historians are wrong to kick football into touch
[16th June 2010 - 09.00]
The story of the first black South African football team to visit these shores, as June's issue reminds us, is not only extraordinary and inspiring,...
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Popular history should not only encompass the twentieth century
[12th May 2010 - 09.00]
In many ways, the decade since the first issue of this magazine hit the shelves has been a great one for history. Merely to glance at a list of...
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