In this episode, Wilf Kenning spoke to 2nd Year History and Arabic student Marco Dryburgh on the topic of Orientalism, and it’s relation to Colonial Britain. Marco discussed the key features of Edward Said’s seminal theory, as well as explaining its relevance and pervasive performance in Colonial Britain, and how we can even see traces […]
Though macabre in appearance and plaintively bizarre, the concept of a train designed solely to transport bodies for burial became a respected and useful feature in Victorian life. With London’s population exploding during the 1850s graveyards became increasingly congested and piles of rotting corpses were a major public concern. Indeed, Victorian values surrounding death and […]
At the beginning of the 5th century BCE, a hodgepodge of political strife, imperialistic occupation, and territorial conflict spurred the Ionian Revolt, a bloody rebellion on the coast of Asia Minor, now modern-day Turkey. The revolt lasted six years, during which the powers of Ionia and Persia both sustained significant losses. By its end, however, […]
The Mayan civilisation lasted an extraordinarily long time from 2600 BC to the end of the seventeenth century; today, their descendants still live in Central America with millions of people still speaking Mayan languages. The merging of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest ideas and cultures from the sixteenth century colonisation of the Americas by the Spanish resulted […]
On the night of January 14, 1887, in Washington DC, the drag queen was born, or at least the concept of the drag queen was revealed to the American public. Prior to this date, her Majesty William Dorsey Swann arranged balls in which men gathered in gowns of satin and silk and sashayed the night […]
The Bengal famine kills between 1.5 and 4 million people, causes of death are considered to include disease, starvation and malnutrition. (Photo courtesy of William Vandivert, LIFE magazine) 4th March: The 15th Academy Awards were held, the above photo shows Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson in “Mrs. Miniver”, which received 12 nominations. (Film still, copyright […]
What do Björk, Massive Attack and Neil Young have in common? Despite the temptation to reply, people I’ve cried to in the car (looking at you middle-aged men still stuck in the hacienda), it might surprise you that each act has been part of a larger global effort to fight climate change with music. In […]
Hello and welcome to the brand new history departmental newspaper; The Manchester Historian. We’re really excited about this new project, which will hopefully continue long after the three of us have graduated! Essentially, we wanted to establish a History community, and use the paper as a tool to promote stronger ties between students, staff, the […]
Hitler’s coming to power in January 1933 is steeped in ambiguity. On one hand, he was the leader of Germany’s largest political party, and was thus selected by Weimar conservatives to run the country and provide unity. On the other hand, the chancellorship was not decided by popular mandate and the Nazis won 33.09% of […]
‘She was audacious, she was autonomous, she was an indefatigable combatant for the workers and for the women.’ A pioneer of Latin American feminist movement and instrumental in the growth of Utopian Socialism, the life of Peruvian-French social activist Flora Tristan took her on a global journey of the sort seldom undertaken by lone women […]
In less than three months the Republic of Ireland will vote on a referendum that, if passed, could mark a watershed for female reproductive rights within the country. Merely an hour’s flight away, Ireland has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Under the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution a woman cannot […]
In 1868 the Tokugawa rule that began in 1603 came to an end.The Tokugawa shogunatewas replaced by the Meiji Restoration.This era consolidated a political systembased on rule by the Emperor of Japan.In reality, the ‘restoration’ of the emperor was purely symbolic. It helped give the new regime the legitimacy they needed to transform Japan. The […]
The assassination attempt that left Malala Yousafzai in a critical condition prompted an international press storm. Since then, Malala has become a well-known name worldwide. At only sixteen years of age, Malala has published her memoirs, addressed the United Nations, been the Queen’s guest at Buckingham Palace and earlier this year, Malala was in contention […]
The Prayer Book rebellion, also referred to as the Western Rising, took place between 6th June and 17th August 1549, in Devon and Cornwall. This was a response to widespread opposition to the authorisation of the Book of Common Prayer in January of the same year. These were the final words of William of Orange, […]