28 January 2014
It was with some sadness that I heard of Pete Seeger’s death this morning. It seemed strangely coincidental with the showing of the Coen Brothers’ latest film, “Inside Llewyn Davis”, which focusses on a folk singer (loosely modelled…
Read more27 January 2014
Perhaps because this Thursday sees the 365th anniversary of the execution of King Charles I, both BBC History Magazine and History Today feature the British Civil Wars on their front pages this month. If these journals aren’t always…
Read more14 January 2014
Sometimes it feels uncomfortable being white (I can hear black reader/friends/students laughing at this – “you should try black” they might say.) Viewing Steve McQueen’s great movie 12 Years a Slave provided just one of those moments for…
Read more13 January 2014
Our colleagues in Theology and Religious Studies are hosting Professor Alec Ryrie from the University of Durham this week. Professor Ryrie will give a paper, ‘Faith, Doubt and the Problem of “Atheism” in Post-Reformation Britain’, this Wednesday (January 15th) between…
Read more10 January 2014
Are there limits to the intellectual inquiries historians may make? Our knee-jerk reaction to this, of course, would usually be – should usually be – ‘no’. I wrote a few months ago about Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch’s recent Silence:…
Read more7 January 2014
Happy new year! Today’s my first day back since the Christmas and New Year break, so apologies for the late good wishes. I was reflecting over Christmas about travel: so many of our staff and students leave Cheltenham…
Read more5 December 2013
In an age in which historians have long since abandoned the ‘great men’ theory of history, how do we define – should we even use – the term ‘world historical figure’? Our discipline now rightly prefers to complicate our…
Read more4 December 2013
There was a very interesting documentary on BBC4 last night on Big Bill Broonzy. I’ve mentioned his song ‘Black, Brown and White’ a few times in class, particularly given its critique of racial discrimination in America in the…
Read more27 November 2013
African American History and Shakespeare? A strange mixture, but one that British director Mark Rylance brought together in the recent production of Much Ado about Nothing starring Vanessa Redgrave and the American actor, James Earl Jones at the…
Read more22 November 2013
This Friday 22nd of November marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. This anniversary has been marked by numerous newspapers articles, television documentaries, radio discussions and even a new film, Parkland, directed…
Read more