British history

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/12/2021
  

  Was Stonehenge a ‘Secondhand’ Monument?

  An archaeology paper recently published points to an excavated circle of stones in Wales as the possible original site of Stonehenge. 

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• SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
  1/26/2021
  

  ‘Despised’ Review: The Left and the Working Class

  by Jonathan Rose

  Historian Jonathan Rose reviews a book by British firefighter and "left conservative" Paul Embery which identifies the collapse of both working class communities and open debate in Britain as factors in the demise of Labour as a political force. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  12/9/2020
  

  Lockdown Gardening in Britain Leads to Archaeological Discoveries

  Locked-down Britons have unearthed many potentially valuable objects both modern and ancient, prompting consideration of expanding a law that would enable museums to claim such objects after compensating the finder.

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  12/12/2020
  

  He's the MP with the Downton Abbey Lifestyle. But the Shadow of Slavery Hangs over the Gilded Life of Richard Drax

  The MP, an advocate for Brexit and a harsh critic of Black Lives Matter protests, now faces criticism over the centrality of Caribbean slavery to his family's vast fortune. 

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  11/12/2020
  

  The National Trust is under Attack Because it Cares about History, not Fantasy

  by Peter Mitchell

  Britain's historic preservation agency has become the target of conservative politicians who have interpreted the Trust's commissioning of a report evaluating the relationship of its projects to slavery as an attack on the nation's historical identity.

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  11/11/2020
  

  "The Crown" Takes the Shine Off Queen Elizabeth’s Reign

  In its sharp and splashy fourth season, the show finally criticizes Elizabeth for her ignorance, characterizing her as a ruler whose stubborn devotion to tradition makes her and her family out-of-touch fools caught off guard by change. 

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  11/15/2020
  

  Michael Holding: 'This is something I’ve had inside of me for years'

  A legendary Jamaican cricketer and broadcaster has recently gone public to share his experiences of racism and support current protests for racial justice. 

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• 11/1/2020
  

  From a Victorian to a Twenty-First Century Understanding of Why History Matters

  by Priya Satia

  "Churchill was the apotheosis of the historically-minded statesman, committed to the idea of history as progress in which the role of great men was to suppress ordinary moral compunctions about destructive events that forwarded it."

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  10/26/2020
  

  Misremembering the British Empire

  Priya Satia's new book “Time’s Monster” joins a dense body of scholarship analyzing liberal justifications for empire. 

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  10/14/2020
  

  The Real Black History? The Government Wants To Ban It

  by Priyamvada Gopal

  Tory attacks on "victim narratives" in the history curriculum defend entrenched power and ignore the fact that Black British histories are about the power of protest and activism to make social change. 

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• 10/11/2020
  

  Who Owns Churchill?: Three Mythic Configurations

  by Steven Fielding, Bill Schwarz, and Richard Toye

  A new book examines the ways that Winston Churchill's image has been used in British politics, not least by Churchill himself.

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  10/3/2020
  

  'Students Need to Know the Harrowing Truth': Teachers on Black History in the Curriculum

  British history educators and scholars discuss a proposal to make Black history a compulsory part of the national history curriculum. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/22/2020
  

  U.K. Conservation Society Details Links to Colonialism and Slavery

  The British historic preservation agency has begun to grapple with how to present the historic connections between properties it manages and fortunes built through slavery and colonialism.

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• 9/20/2020
  

  “We Are Ourselves”: Review of For Workers’ Power: The Selected Writings of Maurice Brinton

  by Eric Laursen

  Maurice Brinton--the pseudonym of a British neurologist--authored an influential series of works of radical political thought that urged the British left to move away from rigid party structures and doctrinal disputes toward social movements. 

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• 8/23/2020
  

  A Tale of Two Tyrants: Charles I and Donald Trump

  by Frank Palmeri

  A comparison between Trump and Charles I of England suggests not only that the coming election will be rocky, but that it may take a long time to bridge the divisions in American society.

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• SOURCE: Stanford University
  8/10/2020
  

  Paul Seaver, Leading Historian of Early Modern England, Dies at 88

  Paul Seaver, a distinguished historian of early modern England and dedicated university citizen, died Aug. 1. He was 88.

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• SOURCE: National Archives (UK)
  8/10/2020
  

  Depicting Japan in British propaganda of the Second World War

  The outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Japan exposed the ignorance and indifference of many Britons to Japan. The British Ministry of Information responded with "creative and aggressive propaganda about the Japanese enemy." 

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• SOURCE: Telegraph
  7/23/2020
  

  Wearing A Face Mask Is Not New - But The Backlash Against Them Is, Say Historians

  "The striking thing about 1941 is that there was no debate or controversy between the scientists and the government, there was just rapid agreement that this made sense and it wasn't costly," said Dr Jesse Olszynko-Gryn.

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• SOURCE: Barrons
  7/22/2020
  

  Row Over 'Misrepresentation' Of Slavery In UK Citizenship Test (Agence France Presse)

  Nearly 200 historians on Wednesday denounced what they said was the "misrepresentation of slavery and empire" in the history section of Britain's citizenship test, calling for it to be corrected.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  7/15/2020
  

  Statue of Black Protester Is Raised in Place of Bristol Slave Trader

  The debate over what should permanently replace the Colston statue has percolated since last month. Historians have suggested a statue of Paul Stephenson, a Black activist who organized a successful boycott of a Bristol bus company in the 1960s.