Category: Neil Wynn

1

Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)

Emeritus Professor of 20th c. US History Neil Wynn pays tribute after the singer and activist’s death this week. “There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, there’s a hole in my bucket …”  So began…

The 2020 Presidential Election – in Historical Context

There can be little doubt that this Presidential election has been the bitterest and most divisive in modern U.S. History. However, argument and delay is not in itself new:  the 2016 election in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary…

1

Presidential Debates: then and now

The first of the three scheduled presidential debates between the Republican incumbent, Donald Trump, and the Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, was notable for its lack of actual debate.  Described by CNN as “the most rancorous debate in history”,…

‘The Past is Not Dead’ – Confronting the British Past in the wake of Black Lives Matter

Recent events have really put our discipline on the front pages. The Black Lives Matter protests which have swept across the United States and Europe following the brutal murder of George Floyd, have seen statues of controversial historical…

‘I Can’t Breathe’ – Race Conflict in the USA 2020

For American historians, and particularly those who focus on African American history and civil rights, the feelings felt in the last six days are a mixture of sorrow, anger, .. and also déjà vu.  How often in the…

1

Thoughts on Visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau

The Auschwitz Museum has just reported that the top ten countries from which visitors to the Museum/Memorial came in 2018 are: Poland (405,000), Great Britain(281,000), USA (136,000), Italy (116,000), Spain (95,000), Germany (76.000), France (69,000), Israel (65,000), Czech…

2

What to make of the U.S. mid-term elections?

This post comes from Neil Wynn, Emeritus Professor of 20th Century US History at the University of Gloucestershire. While presidential elections take place every four years, congressional elections take place every two years with all 435 seats in…

An American Historian visits Vietnam & Cambodia

By Neil A. Wynn Several things got me interested in U.S. history when I was a teenager – rock n’roll, blues, civil rights, John F. Kennedy (hard to believe now!), and the war in Vietnam.  By the time…

1

The USA and World War I

One hundred years ago today, on April 6th 1917, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve Woodrow Wilson’s call for a declaration of war against Germany to “make the world safe for democracy”. Although the United States…

Literature, History, and the Vietnam War

Writing a preview of the Cheltenham Literature Festival, I suggested all History students should read literature.  I was reminded of this today when I read the (belated – he died in June) obituary of Michael  Herr in The…