Nonsuch HP: The History and Politics Blog

Holocaust Memorial Day

2012-01-27T15:40:00.001Z

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, here is the latest video from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust encouraging you to speak out against discrimination.

GCSE Guide

2012-01-25T13:47:00.000Z

We have created a new page showing what will be available for GCSE students for 2012-2014. For more information, click here.

Turnout

2012-01-23T21:45:00.001Z

Here's an interesting article examining electoral turnout in the USA. According to the Centre for the Study of the American Electorate, America is ranked 139th in terms of voter participation out of 172 recognised democracies, and turnout in the 2008 election at 63% was considerably lower than it is in much of Europe, for example. Indeed, 2008's turnout was higher than it had been since 1960, with only 51.6% turning out for the 1996 elections. Some believe this is because of America's insistence on continuing with traditions such as the Tuesday date for elections (believed to have been chosen as it was most convenient for the agricultural community) and its refusal to embrace newer technologies to make voting more convenient, although this could be expensive. Jacob Soboroff from the "Why Tuesday?" Campaign responded to criticisms by saying,

"There is a far higher cost to the nation of having perennially low turnout than the monetary cost of having weekend elections." Does he have a point?

PS: More on the Tuesday issue here.

Paxman on China

2012-01-23T11:46:00.002Z

Happy Chinese New Year!

To mark the Year of the Dragon, here is an excellent piece by Jeremy Paxman (who is visiting China for Newsnight). He observes how many in modern China (particularly in the big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai) are driven by the desire to make money and increase their status, and turn a blind eye to some of the more repressive aspects of the country (for now, at least).

You may also find these articles of interest - about Chinese corner shops, and fake boyfriends.

Gingrich wins South Carolina

2012-01-22T07:17:00.000Z

The Republican primary race is now wide open following Newt Gingrich's shock win in South Carolina on Saturday. The scale of his victory, with 40% of the vote, 12% ahead of Romney, is particularly impressive. This suggests that the campaign will now go on for many months. Gingrich has appealed to Rick Santorum's supporters to join him as a conservative force against Romney but Santorum also has something to be cheerful about following the news that he actually won the Iowa Caucus after all. All eyes now move to Florida, who hold their primary on 31 January.

Why do you think Gingrich has done so well? Is this a "game-changer" or are Romney's prospects sound in the long run? How much is Obama enjoying all this? Please let us know.

PS: Here are some useful resources - a "battleground map" showing some of the key states for the 2012 election, and the CNN "delegate calculator"

Wikipedia Blackout

2012-01-19T13:37:00.000Z

Here is an excellent article from the BBC's technology correspondent about Wikpedia's "blackout" yesterday in protest about proposals for new American Anti-Piracy laws, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act)and PIPA (Protect IP Act). Apparently 162 million people experienced the blackout in the last 24 hours (including Nonsuch HP) which has led to some of the politicians who had previously backed the bills becoming rather more reticent. Meanwhile Rupert Murdoch (via twitter) has commented, "Seems blogosphere has succeeded in terrorizing many senators and congressmen who previously committed. Politicians all the same." - make of that what you will!

What's your opinion on the blackout? Was it successful? Please let us know.

Economist on Romney

2012-01-19T12:54:00.002Z

There are some excellent articles in this week's Economist on Mitt Romney and the situation in the US Primaries this week.

Here is the leading article assessing his credentials and whether he can be a credible opponent to Obama in November.
Here is a whizzy interactive map showing the latest poll data for each state - Romney leads in most but sometimes not by much!
Here is the Economists "Politics in America" blog with the latest thoughts and developments.

If you have any other recommendations from elsewhere on the web, please let us know.

Washington Trip

2012-01-15T21:32:00.001Z

You may have noticed a countdown timer and weather forecast box have been added to the right hand side - this is looking forward to the Washington Trip taking place in February Half Term. With the primary season in full swing, it will certainly be an exciting time to be out there, if somewhat cold!

Iowa Caucus Tonight!

2012-01-03T20:35:00.001Z

Happy New Year everyone, and apologies for the lack of posts lately. The official start of the primary season for the US Presidential race in 2012 could not be ignored, however. 120,000 Iowans will gather tonight to participate in caucuses to elect delegates for the Republican National Convention, which will take part in Florida this August. Their decisions will give some clue as to how the Republican candidates are faring, although it should be born in mind that John McCain, the eventual Republican nominee in 2008, came fourth in this caucus during the last election. Polls suggest that Mitt Romney and Ron Paul will do well, although Ron Paul has particularly strong local appeal and this may not translate well across the rest of the country. It will be more interesting to see how the other "Anyone but Romney" candidates fare, particularly Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. We will find out later tonight! More information from the BBC here and from the official Iowa Caucus website here. If you have any comments or good links, please let us know.

Oxbridge interviews

2011-11-29T09:09:00.001Z

People preparing for university interviews may find this article (by a Cambridge interviewer) of interest.

Svetlana - Stalin's Daughter

2011-11-29T08:49:00.001Z

Svetlana Peters, Josef Stalin's daughter, has died in the US aged 85. Her life was fascinating (and very complicated!). She was the only daughter of Stalin and Nadezhda Alliluyeva, who committed suicide in 1932. She was married 3 times in the USSR - her first marriage was at the age of 18 against her father's wishes to a Jewish student who was later sent to a labour camp. In 1967 the CIA helped her to escape from the Soviet Union - she then denounced communism and called her father a "moral and spiritual monster". She married again but continued to move around - she even went back to the USSR for a short while to be reunited with her children before returning to the USA and writing her memoirs, "Twenty Letters to a Friend". It will be interesting to see how Russia reacts to her death given their somewhat ambiguous attitude towards her father.

Latest from the Republican Race

2011-11-24T13:43:00.001Z

Here is an excellent blog post from Mark Mardell analysing the current state of the Republican candidates after their latest TV debate. The debate focused on national security - Rick Perry and Herman Cain appeared to be like "schoolboys who had desperately mugged up on their homework" whereas Michele Bachman came across better than on previous occasions whilst Jon Huntsman was "masterful...for all the good it will do him". It is also worth reading to find out what "Mitt" Romney's real first name is!

There is some further good commentary on the state of the Republican race here (from our colleagues in Sutton) which refers to this article, and here, assessing some of the candidates not running in 2012 and their reasons why.

PS: Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Total Politics - December issue

2011-11-24T08:10:00.001Z

This month's Total Politics magazine is now available in the History & Politics Reference roon and includes an interview with the Shadow Chencellor, Ed Balls, along with an in-depth article about the Chancellor, George Osborne, both of which are well worth reading. Other interesting articles include a debate on the value of international aid and a look at the top 100 political jouranlists in the UK (only two women in the top 20 so some scope for improvement by budding journlaists at Nonsuch!). Also, if you are looking for some ideas for your Christmas stocking, a list of the top political books from the last 12 months with something for everyone - 'Ed', 'Thatcher in her own words' and even 'Nick Clegg - the biography' - Happy reading!

David Cannadine on History Teaching

2011-11-22T13:45:00.001Z

One of Michael Gove's advisers, the historian David Cannadine, has published a paper this week - "The Right Kind of History" - on how History should be taught in British Schools. In it, he suggests that the problem with current teaching is not the type of subjects taught, but the length of time they are given, and that History should be made compulsory up to the age of 16 to fit this all in. He points out that Britain and Albania are the only countries in Europe which do not make it compulsory beyond the age of 14. He explains his point of view further in this article from the Guardian and in this interview from the Today Programme.

Michael Gove has invited several historians, including Richard Evans, Simon Schama and Niall Ferguson to consider reforms to the curriculum. It remains to be seen what steps will actually be put in place. What do you think should be done?

UPDATE: Check out this fantastic audio slideshow where various ex-history students talk about how they were taught from the 1930s through to the 1960s - there are lots of photos of history classes and textbooks (complete with scribbles). You also get to learn a useful way to remember the medieval kings of England, and find out what a Baldric is! It's well worth 4 minutes of your time.

Bankers and Codebreakers

2011-11-21T09:12:00.001Z

There are plenty of good history programmes to watch at the moment. On Tuesday Ian Hislop presents "When Bankers Were Good". He investigates some of the wealthiest Victorian bankers who were also very impressive philanthropists, donating much of the income to good causes and campaigning on social issues such as housing and care for deprived children. George Peabody, for example, provided a huge donation to build affordable housing for London's poor, and today over 50,000 people still live in homes supported by the Peabody Trust. Samuel Gurney used his banking wealth to support the work of his sister, Elizabeth Fry, who campaigned for prison reform. As you can guess from the provocative title, Hislop suggests that today's bankers could learn a great deal from these eminent Victorians if they wish to improve their image.

Also on this week (tonight in fact) on Channel 4 is a documentary about Alan Turing - "Britain's greatest codebreaker". Turing (shown above) was an exceptionally gifted mathematician who was instrumental in helping to break the Enigma code during World War 2 through his development of computer programmes which could run through thousands of possible code combinations every minute. He should have been recognised as a national hero but instead was arrested for "gross indecency" in 1952 - his crime was to be gay at a time when homosexual acts were illegal. Two years later he committed suicide because he had been driven to despair by his treatment - a terrible waste of a great talent.

Also recommended on iPlayer - "Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story" - a fantastic tale of a former safe-breaker who was recruited to spy on the Germans, while convincing the Germans he was spying for them at the same time - he was so good that they even awarded him with the Iron Cross, and all the time he was passing secrets back to the British.

If you spot any more good history programmes, please let us know!

Google and Bletchley Park

2011-11-16T10:15:00.001Z

Here is a fascinating story about how a British-born employee of Google took an interest in preserving Bletchley Park, the centre of the British code-breaking operations during World War 2 which was able to crack the German Enigma code and provide the allies with a huge amount of information about their opponents. Because the activities at Bletchley came under the Official Secrets Act, very few people knew about what took place here until quite recently, and there was a danger that the whole site could have been demolished to make way for a supermarket.

Partly thanks to Google's help, Bletchley's future is now much brighter and it is well worth visiting this historic site (close to Milton Keynes) which had a significant effect both on the end of the war and the beginning of the computing industry.

Famous History Graduates: Ashley John-Baptiste

2011-11-16T10:01:00.001Z

It has been revealed that recent X-Factor contestant Ashley John-Baptiste recently completed a History degree. You can read more about his impressive story here. Born in South London, he was taken into care at the age of 4 and found it difficult to settle into school. Eventually, however, after being given a "final chance" by his head teacher when on the verge of exclusion from secondary, he focused on his work and, with the support of his MP, got a place at Cambridge (Fitzwilliam College) to study History where he got a 2:1. Are there any others in the music industry with similar qualifications?

Hidden Meanings in the Stars and Stripes

2011-11-15T16:01:00.001Z

Here is a fascinating article from the BBC about the US' national flag. Although the Stars and Stripes was adopted as this in 1777, there was no fixed design until 1912. This led to a variety of different interpretations, such as the shaping of the stars into particular patterns, including on one occasion a hidden Confederate banner! A more recent artistic interpretation - "The White Flag" is also considered - where the colours of the flag were drained away. This was created in 1955 during the peak of McCarthyism so you can draw your own conclusions on the artist's message...

You can see more of this in the BBC's Art of America programme (on BBC4 and here on iPlayer) and in this exhibition at the Smithsonian Musuem in Washington DC.

PS: The flag above was used in 1814 during the war between the United States and Great Britain (Confusingly known as the War of 1812!). It was raised to celebrate an American victory over the British at Baltimore and was the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem - the Star Spangled Banner.

Rosie Campbell

2011-11-09T16:15:00.002Z

Thank you very much to Dr Rosie Campbell, Senior Lecturer in Politics at Birkbeck, University of London, for coming in to talk to Nonsuch Politics students today. Her fascinating talk about voting behaviour and gender gave us all a real insight into the electoral system in particular and the political system in general.
If you want to know more about her work, here is her Birkbeck site and here a link to her article in the Guardian re women and voting in the 2010 election.

New Hampshire Primary

2011-11-07T09:28:00.000Z

New Hampshire has now named the date for its presidential primary - 10 January 2012. After some confusion and bargaining between states, the early primary calendar looks like this.

Iowa caucus: 3 January

New Hampshire primary: 10 January

South Carolina primary: 28 January

Florida primary: 31 January

Keep an eye on sites such as this to see how the Republican candidates get on in their race to secure the nomination.

New Banknote

2011-11-02T12:37:00.001Z

A new £50 banknote has been issued today by the Bank of England. On it are the portraits of Matthew Boulton and James Watt. Boulton (1728-1809) was an industrialist and entrenpreneur, and Watt (1736-1819) was an engineer and scientist, who, amongst other things, introduced the term "horsepower" and had the metric unit of power (the "watt") named after him. With Boulton's backing, Watt developed the industrial steam engine, using his machinery for the spinning of cotton and even the minting of coins. You can see one of their original engines in operation here (it's now in a museum in Sydney).

This BBC article explores some of the other historical figures on British banknotes, including:
£5 - Elizabeth Fry, social reformer, who had a great influence over the design and management of prisons during the 19th Century
£10 - Charles Darwin, scientist who wrote the "Origin of Species" and proposed the theory of evolution
£20 - Adam Smith, economist who wrote "The Wealth of Nations" and proposed the theory of the division of labour.

There's also a link to this great list from the Bank of England of future candidates for banknotes, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Olaudah Equiano and...Sir Jimmy Saville. You can nominate your own candidates, and we think there is rather a small number of women on the list, so get writing in!

Where was the Battle of Hastings?

2011-10-18T21:56:00.000+01:00

Just after the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings (14 October) one historian, Nick Austin, has put the cat among the pigeons by suggesting that the Battle of Hastings was not fought next to Battle Abbey where there is a visitor's centre and tours about the battle, but 2 miles away in Crowhurst. He bases this on the topography of both sites and how the battle is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. Read the argument on both sides of the debate here. In the end though, does it really matter?

Black History Month 2

2011-10-18T11:26:00.002+01:00

The History and Politics Society will be meeting this lunchtime, with the second part of their Black History Month presentation. The powerpoint they are using is shown above. If the content doesn't appear for some reason, please click here. If there are still problems even then, please let us know.

First Snow in Moscow

2011-10-17T21:53:00.001+01:00

Here is a fascinating article about the first snow in Moscow, which fell this week, and how the city is preparing to deal with it using 30,000 employees and 15,000 snowploughs. The issue helps to provide fascinating insights into the politics of the city and its rivalry with national government, which already appears to have begun the transition from outgoing President Medvedev (whose lasting legacy may well be the abolition of daylight saving time as it brought "unhappiness to the cows") to presumably President Putin again, once the small matter of an election has been addressed.

PS Photo of snowplough is courtesy of the China People's Daily - more photos here!

Battle of Hastings Location?

2011-10-17T21:38:00.001+01:00

A new article has suggested that the Battle of Hastings did not take place where it has been traditionally sited at Battle Abbey but in the village of Crowhurst two miles away. The author has looked at evidence from the Bayeux Tapestry and other primary sources and believes the terrain around Crowhurst is more appropriate for the events that are described. English Heritage, which owns the battle site is not convinced, saying that it is unlikely that Battle Abbey would have been placed where it was (in a rather inaccessible location) if there hadn't been a significant event to site it there.

This is not the only battle that has had issues with its location - Bosworth had similar problems recently. Whatever the case it is unlikely that the visitor centre will move any time soon and this will allow people to imagine what it must have been like to fight in such a great confrontation - wherever it was!

For further info here are articles from the BBC and the Daily Mail, with more extensive details of the battle here.

Black History Month at HP Society

2011-10-14T12:57:00.000+01:00

The History and Politics Society is marking Black History Month this October with a series of events on the subject. Above is the presentation from last Tuesday's talk, focusing on the less positive aspects of the way black people have been treated, particularly in America, while next Tuesday the focus will be much more uplifiting!The borough of Sutton is has also laid on a series of events. You can read more about them at their website here and in this flyer.

Paul Burstow

2011-10-14T12:20:00.002+01:00

Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, will be speaking today in the library at 1.15. Please come along and ask him questions about his career as an MP and as Minister of State for Health. You can find out more from his website, and from TheyWorkForYou's statistics page.

PS: The picture above comes from a Guardian interview with him concerning in particular the Government's mental health strategy - you can read more about it here.

Design Changes

2011-10-12T15:14:00.001+01:00

The blog has had a slight design change this afternoon. Do you like it? More radical changes are coming shortly, which will prompt a review of the features used on the right hand side. Which ones are most useful, and which ones do you think can be removed? Please let us know.

PS: This fascinating image shows how the logos of many well known brands have changed over time - sometimes dramatically (check out Nokia and Apple's earliest designs!) and sometimes imperceptibly (Ford, BMW, etc). You can read more about it here.

Steve Jobs

2011-10-12T13:13:00.000+01:00

Following on from today's assembly, here are some further articles about Steve Jobs that you may find of interest.

RIP Steve Jobs - The article from the Onion's AV Club which refers to him as the "Designer of Modern Life".
Apple's Visionary Redefined Digital Age - The New York Times' extensive obituary.
Seven Lessons from Apple's Founder - from the Guardian
A Man of Contradiction and Genius - also from the Guardian
Has the iPod made us Anti-Social? - from the BBC, published just before Jobs' death

Finally, here is the video of Jobs' speech from Stanford University that was quoted at the end (YouTube link)

Kites For Women's Rights

2011-10-10T08:54:00.000+01:00

There was an excellent presentation in Amnesty Society last week about the state of women's rights in Afghanistan, ten years after the most recent conflict there began. You can catch up with it by viewing this powerpoint, and if you would like to join in and write a message on a kite in support of the women of Afghanistan, please contact a member of the society for more information or visit Amnesty International's home page.

2011-10-08T00:12:00.000+01:00

Logo Competition

At HP society we have all kinds of fun discussing, debating, watching videos and quizzing about anything and everything History and/or Politics related…And because we are such a great society we thought it would be a good idea to get ourselves a logo.

Design a creative – but relatively simple - logo for our society.It must include the words ‘Nonsuch’ and ‘HP society’ or ‘History and Politics Society’ and it should be no bigger than a quarter of an A4 page (or at least suitable for scaling the size down on a computer), apart from that it’s up to you.

The winning logo will hopefully be used on all our posters and for more HP events in the future! The winner will also get a prize!So please get involved and come to HP society every week on a Tuesday Lunchtime, we would love to see more of you involved.

Bring all entries to the logo competition to a HP lunch session within the next two weeks, Thanks.

The HP team

Tudors on YouTube

2011-10-05T12:31:00.002+01:00

This excellent collection of videos can now be found on YouTube (apologies that they can't be viewed at school). It includes a mixture of extracts from films and TV dramas on Tudor subjects, and documentaries on particular events and individuals, such as David Starkey's comments on Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth's relationship with the Duke of Anjou. Also recommended is this brief discussion of Lady Jane Grey by John Guy, looking in particular at how she has been portrayed in paintings. The infamous "Bloody Mary" video is now also on YouTube, and can be seen above - watch out for David Loades' impressively louche performance.

The Battle of Hastings - Courtesy of the Sun

2011-10-04T09:22:00.000+01:00

The Sun has got into History, with a sequence of mocked up front pages on its special website, "Hold Ye Front Page" about various significant historical events. These include:

The birth of art, 20,000 years ago ("Makeover team wrecked my cave")
The discoveries of Archimedes in 240 BC ("You streaker - Outrage as Archimedes leaps from bath in naked dash")
The influence of Arab Scientists, from 776AD ("Arab swotter and the Philosopher's Stone")
Darwin's Theory of Evolution, from 1859 ("Monkey Nutter")
The victories of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics ("This one's 4 you, Herr Hitler")

As you can see they cover quite a variety of topics! (Even the Crucifixion gets a headline...) The Battle of Hastings is also included ("Storming Normans") and there are several lively videos, including this computer animation of how the battle might have looked.

Please let us know if you find any other interesting subjects!

Mary I's Coronation

2011-10-04T09:04:00.001+01:00

On 1 October 1553 Mary I was crowned Queen of England - the first ever female coronation. This fascinating blog article includes 10 facts about the ceremony, including:

She held two sceptres during the ceremony - one symbolising the King, and another bearing a dove which had been held by her mother, Catherine of Aragon, at Henry VIII's coronation.
She was crowned with three crowns - Edward the Confessor's, Henry VIII's Imperial Crown, and a crown "purposlie made" for her. Ner brother Edward VI was the only monarch previous to her to have this honour.
7112 dishes were served at the coronation banquet, and Mary herself was given 312 of them. However, and food left over was distributed to London's poor.

Further information about her coronation can be found in this earlier blog post.

In Defence of Politics

2011-09-28T10:22:00.001+01:00

Nonsuch HP caught this programme on Radio 4 the other night and found it fascinating. Professor Matthew Flinders set out to challenge the public perception of politicians as corrupt and selfish, by arguing that the vast majority of them are extremely hardworking, and are under great pressure to make decisions (and often compromises) on our behalf over very challenging issues.

"Politics succeeds because it generally ensures stability and order:" he writes in an accompanying article, "it avoids anarchy or arbitrary rule...Politicians urgently need to rediscover the moral nerve and capacity to speak with the authority and weight of their predecessors. At the heart of this rediscovery must be the acceptance that the "the first business of government is to govern", as Churchill put it, "which may at times call for the deliberate endurance of unpopularity". "

Politicians such as John Bercow and Tony Blair made contributions in support of his thesis, but not everyone agreed. The Telegraph's Peter Oborne, for example, believes that politicians inevitably become isolated from the world around them and naturally put their own interests first. Strong views indeed - and there will doubtless be more of them over the next two programmes. What is your opinion of all this?

10 Myths about Afghanistan

2011-09-28T10:03:00.001+01:00

This Guardian article questions many of our preconceived views about Afghanistan, such as whether any foreign army has succeeded in the country, and whether the Soviets were "defeated" by the Mujahideen. It is well worth reading, particularly when considering Afghanistan's role in the Cold War and the USSR's recent history, as well as its significance today.

Women in Saudia Arabia get the vote

2011-09-26T19:53:00.000+01:00

Well...almost. King Abdullah announced today that women would be allowed to vote and run in municipal elections in four years' time as well as be appointed to the influential Shura Council that advises the King. It is a little too early to celebrate though as the vote has been promised previously and taken away again with little justification, no appointments have yet been made to the Council and the King can ignore it anyway. It also is a relatively small victory when compared with what else women can't do in the country ie drive, sign legal documents and importantly participate in public life without a male relative's agreement.
Read the story on the BBC and the Guardian.

Elizabeth on Film

2011-09-22T10:26:00.000+01:00

The Guardian runs a regular column reviewing historical films and considering their accuracy - covering everything from Spartacus to The Social Network. Recently the author has reviewed several films with Elizabethan themes, including Shakespeare in Love (Entertainment: A-, Accuracy C+), Young Bess from 1953 (E: C+, A: B) and 1999's Elizabeth. The latter comes in for a particular roasting because although it is undeniably entertaining (A-), it plays extremely fast and loose with historical accuracy (E) - indeed it gets a lower rating than the recent Cuban-Missile-Crisis-based X-Men: First Class (D+!)

Problems include: portraying Lord Burghley as a 75 year old at the start of her reign when he was in fact in his 30s, over-emphasizing her romantic interest in Robert Dudley, and including him in an amalgamation of various Catholic plots against her, which was highly unlikely as he was a staunch Protestant. The film-makers would argue that their job is to emphasize the dramatic nature of Elizabeth's insecure and lonely position, but clearly a large historical health-warning is needed at the beginning of the film for those who might consider it a reliable source for research... PS: Here is a detailed list of many of the factual errors from the film plus other useful information in an FAQ. PPS: The film's sequel: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" isn't very accurate either, as Alison Weir explains here...

One to watch - Hilary Mantel

2011-09-20T10:27:00.001+01:00

The BBC's Culture Show has devoted a whole programme to the historical novellist Hilary Mantel. Catch it on BBC iplayer. She has written some fantastic historical novels including the recent and much acclaimed Wolf Hall and A Place of Greater Safety about the main protagonists of the French Revolution. Give them a go.

A new female prime minister

2011-09-16T11:29:00.002+01:00

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, leader of the centre-left coalition in Denmark, won a narrow victory over the right wing government in power to become the first female prime minister in Denmark last night. Her victory brings the Danish left back to power after ten years in opposition, and is likely to mean Denmark will be more positive on moves towards closer economic co-ordination within the European Union. She said after her victory: “Today is the day things change in Denmark. This evening we’ve shown that the Social Democrats are a big and driving force in Denmark. We’ve written history today.”
See the BBC, Guardian and Telegraph's reporting of the story.
She also has a close contact with Britain as she is the previous Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock's daughter-in-law being married to Neil and Glenys Kinnock's son Stephen.

Jimmy Carter

2011-09-12T09:17:00.000+01:00

Here is a fascinating interview with Jimmy Carter, President of the USA from 1977 to 1980 and now leading a very active retirement whilst living in a modest bungalow in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Most interesting is his defence of his presidency, often considered to be a failure because it only lasted one term and ended in the shambles of the failed Iranian hostage rescue. During those four years, he says,

"We kept our country at peace. We never went to war. We never dropped a bomb. We never fired a bullet. But still we achieved our international goals. We brought peace to other people, including Egypt and Israel. We normalised relations with China, which had been non-existent for 30-something years. We brought peace between US and most of the countries in Latin America because of the Panama Canal Treaty. We formed a working relationship with the Soviet Union."

This policy came in for considerable criticism at the time, but in from today's perspective, looks to be an increasingly impressive claim.

PS: You can read more about the work of the Carter Center here

Boris Johnson on the Croydon riots

2011-09-12T09:08:00.001+01:00

I was delighted to be invited to a Conservative party event last Tuesday evening. The special guest of the night was the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who gave a speech about the riots that occurred last month.

Although he spoke about the riots as a whole, he predominantly focused on repairing Croydon and restoring faith into the citizens that reside there. His aim now is to recreate Croydon to be even better than it was before, by including new tram links and generating business incentives to stimulate the town’s economy.

At the moment, there seems to be a lot of disillusionment with the police. During the first days of the riots, the police took a laid-back approach and looters were free to ransack stores. This seems to be a huge concern for Johnson, therefore he emphasised that the police force is robust and resilient to bounce back from the criticisms.

He then opened the panel to the residents, including the owner of Reeve’s Corner (the biggest building that was set alight in Croydon). The store owner was reassured that he would have support as he reconstructed his business building.

I happily met Johnson afterwards. It was a great speech and a good night. He definitely left the event having a lot of support from the Conservative members of Croydon.

Many thanks to VD for this report.

9/11 Ten Years On

2011-09-08T10:43:00.001+01:00

The tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks will be this Sunday. As you can imagine, there is a vast amount of coverage of this in the media, with many programmes and web articles devoted to it. Here are special sections from the Guardian, the BBC and CNN. Please let us know of any particularly interesting articles or programmes that you find and we will link to them here.

Republican Debate

2011-09-08T10:34:00.000+01:00

There was a lively debate between the Republican candidates at the Ronald Reagan Library in California last night. Eight candidates took part (Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum), but the debate was dominated by clashes between Mitt Romney, who had been considered to be the front runner for many months, and Rick Perry, the governor of Texas. Perry only joined the race last month but has already made a considerable impact, particularly amongst the Tea Party movement. Perry aggressively criticised many of Romney's policies as governor of Massachusets, but may have damaged his position with more moderate Republicans with his dismissive comments of social security as a "Ponzi scheme" (basically a dodgy financial arrangement) and a "monstrous lie". It will be interesting to see what effect the debate has on their poll ratings, and watch out for the "Tea Party Debate" on Monday.

PS: Click the video above to watch them in action (after a brief ad), and here are reports and reaction from CNN and Fox News.

PPS: There is also some useful comment here from the New York Times

Nonsuch Palace model

2011-09-06T20:43:00.001+01:00

An Oxford professor has produced a model of the famous local palace based on his own research which should give us a much better idea of what it may have looked like. Built by Henry VIII and loved by Elizabeth I, the palace was eventually dismantled by one of Charles II's mistresses, Barbara Villiers. The model is on display from today in Nonsuch Mansion House and will be open to the general public from 17 September. The BBC site has a tantalising picture of it (above) and Friends of Nonsuch Museum has the opening times of the museum. Go and visit it as it is just across the park from the school.

All talk no action

2011-09-06T09:10:00.001+01:00

A Washington Post article recently made this claim: "So far this year, members of Congress have said the words “create jobs” 1,236 times. Almost once for every hour that Congress was in session, according to C-Span data. President Obama has said those same words at least 116 times. Almost every other day.” It is even more fascinating that zero jobs were created in August, resulting in the national unemployment rate being 9.1%. Both the Democrats and Republicans are accountable for this - they were not able to agree on issues, which resulted in nothing being changed. Now this would be understandable if the rate of unemployment was at a satisfactory level, but Americans are facing the recession head on. When people are moving into long stay motels because they cannot afford housing, it soon becomes a cause for concern. The cracks in the formation of Washington are appearing as the Democrat-controlled Senate is dismissing proposals from the Republican controlled House of Representatives. There may be positive outcomes from having a split house, but this issue in particular is proving to be a huge problem both for the Obama administration and the credibility of the American economy as a whole. Keep an eye on this issue as the autumn progresses.

Many thanks to Politics' VD for this article

China Trip

2011-08-26T11:28:00.013+01:00

At the beginning of the holiday, Nonsuch HP was lucky enough to be part of the 2011 trip to China. It was a fantastic adventure, covering a huge range of experiences from the historic Forbidden City in Beijing to the bustle and glamour of Shanghai's skyscrapers. Here's a brief outline of some of the things that we did:

Beijing
Monday: Fly in from Heathrow via Dubai, check in to Hotel, street life in Beijing while en route to dinner and supermarket!

Tuesday: Great Wall of China (Badaling section), Jade workshop, Summer Palace, Olympic Stadium, Roast Duck Dinner

Wednesday: Queue for Chairman Mao's mausoleum, Tiananmnen Square, Forbidden City, Pearls Display (and supermarket!), Temple of Heaven, serious shopping in the market, railway station for Xian

Xian

Thursday: Overnight train to Xian, check in to 5 star hotel, cycling on city walls, lunch and art gallery, Big Goose Pagoda (Buddhist temple), Grand Mosque, Dumpling Dinner and Tang Dynasty show (traditional singing and dancing, etc)

Friday: Terracotta Warriors and museum, lunch, visit workshop to see reproduction of warriors in clay, Xian station for trip to Suzhou

Suzhou
Saturday: Overnight train, breakfast in Suzhou park (joining elderly residents with their Tai Chi!), Humble Administrator's garden, flower and animal market, lunch, check in to hotel, visit silk factory, canalside walk through traditional Pingjiang district and visit to Pingjiang lodge, dinner in teahouse and night time show in the Master of the Nets garden.

Shanghai
Sunday: Bus from Suzhou to Qiandeng canal district, visit temple and ride on canal boat. Arrive in Shanghai and lunch in Date Tree vegetarian restaurant. Visit Shanghai Urban Planning exhibition hall (including huge model of the city). Check in to Holiday Inn, dinner then river cruise to see Shanghai at night.

Monday: Bus tour of Pudong skyscrapers, walking tour along Bund. Dim Sum lunch, tea ceremony and shopping in Yuyuan Bazaar. Walk through French quarter then return to hotel. Farewell dinner then visit to Shanghai gallery of Modern Art and rooftop bar on Number 3, the Bund with spectacular views.

Tuesday: Early rise, drive to the airport and home to Heathrow with brief Starbucks stop in Dubai.

As you can see we were kept pretty busy! Many thanks to Ms Hartley for organising the trip and to Greg Stoneham and his team for guiding us so expertly. If trip members think something has been left out, please let us know.

England's Summer Riots

2011-08-26T11:03:00.004+01:00

The riots in London and elsewhere across the country have clearly been a very significant political event this summer. Many thanks to our politics student VD for this contribution - please let us know your own opinions on what has been taking place.

Over four days earlier this month, riots spread across London and other parts of the country. They was triggered by the shooting of Mark Duggan, an alleged drug dealer who was shot in Tottenham on 4 August. This sparked the controversy if he was lawfully shot. What started as a peaceful protest has now turned into numerous accounts of looting, riots and arson attacks. Five people were killed in connection with the violence. It is obviously that the aim of the protest has been lost by recreational violence.

Many complained about David Cameron’s absence when the riots started, so he returned to London from his Italian holiday and visited the towns which were affected. Boris Johnson and Theresa May also returned. Not many are happy with the actions they have implemented (some say they have not done anything at all). It will be interesting to see if this will have major damage on the Conservative Party’s reputation. Moreover, Boris Johnson has launched his Back Boris campaign for the 2012 London Mayoral elections - this single event could have a detrimental effect. The aftermath of the riots will help us determine the answer to that.

Summer Holidays

2011-07-22T12:01:00.003+01:00

The Summer Holidays are almost upon us, and we would like to wish everyone a happy and safe break. Posts will be a bit sporadic over the next few weeks but hopefully we will be able to send a few reports from the China Trip. If there is anything else that you think deserves coverage, please let us know.

See you in September!

Who was the best Tudor?

2011-07-19T14:56:00.004+01:00

The main issue in this month's BBC History magazine is the debate over the importance of the Tudors and features eminent historians debating each Tudor king and queen. It starts with Steve Gunn's justification of the importance of Henry VII, much to a certain teacher's delight! You can read the articles here and the magazine itself will soon be put in the Sixth Form study room. They have also included podcasts of each debate which will be invaluable to A-level students.

Tequila Party

2011-07-15T10:05:00.004+01:00

Our politics student VD has spotted this fascinating article from the Independent about the "Tequila Party". This is a grassroots movement partly inspired by the rapid growth of the Tea Party. However, while the Tea Party is closely associated with the Republican movement, the Tequila Party prefers to be non-partisan. Its aim is not to create a third party in the traditional sense but instead reflect the rapidly growing influence of Hispanics in the USA. The population has grown by 43% in the last decade and now stands at 50 million - 16% of the total population (see graphic above - also courtesy of the Independent). Most Hispanics have traditionally voted Democrat but have become increasingly disillusioned with President Obama's promises to reform immigration laws which have so far not come to fruition - indeed he has actually accelerated deportation rates and tightened border security. It will be interesting to see how this movement develops, and how much influence it will have in the next election.

PS: Here is an American perspective on the Tea Party from National Public Radio, and here is the Tequila Party's website.

Russia: The Wild East

2011-07-15T09:40:00.002+01:00

BBC Radio 4 is ambitiously broadcasting the history of Russia over 50 episodes. Presented by Martin Sixsmith, "Russia: The Wild East" covers 1000 years of Russian history, and has now reached the early 20th Century. Each episode is only 15 minutes long and this morning's episode gave a very clear explanation of the New Economic Policy and its consequences, drawing parallels with the economic reforms of Gorbachev. It is clearly a really useful resource for A2 students beginning their Russia course and it is well worth picking up the most recent episodes on iPlayer while they are still available.

“Knowledge is bigotry’s worst enemy”: Remembering and learning from The Holocaust

2011-07-14T12:55:00.002+01:00

On April 6th 2011, we joined other local students on the Lessons From Auschwitz Project to Poland. Our visit consisted of visiting the Polish town of Oświęcim, later to become known as Auschwitz, as well as the camps at Auschwitz I and Auschwitz Birkenau. Now, three months later, we are still trying to process our experience; the immediate shock and anger of standing on the site where so many lost their lives has not been forgotten, but as time passes our desire to voice what we saw, what we felt, what we feel should be done, is becoming more pronounced.

It is easy to distance ourselves from The Holocaust and to ignore the individual stories, lives and cultures of the victims, instead remembering them only for the way they ended; the systematic destruction of six million Jewish people at Auschwitz. We ourselves were guilty of this before our involvement in the Lessons From Auschwitz Project. However it has become clear that this is the least effective way to ensure that The Holocaust is not forgotten. By allowing it to become just another date in history, another mass of people, we are only encouraging the dehumanisation of The Holocaust which so risks there becoming a time when it is looked upon as acceptable, or when it no longer causes shock over the scale of its destruction. The way to target this, the only effective way to really give the victims the dignity that they were denied, is to remember their stories, to share them, and to learn from them.

We were lucky enough to hear a first-hand account from a Holocaust survivor, Freddie Knoller, about his experiences not only at Auschwitz Birkenau, but his life before his capture in Vienna and Paris. It was amazing that hearing the testimony of just one person could make us understand the true reality and effects of The Holocaust more than any lesson or statistic about it could have. This point is perhaps best demonstrated by an analogy made by Nick Robinson, political editor for the BBC. He argues that numbers have come to mean very little in the modern day; we hear about the recession and the bank bail-outs totaling over £850 billion on nearly a daily basis until the figures no longer have an effect. They eventually become meaningless, something used to shock the audience but not reaching them at a deeper level and this is what is happening to The Holocaust as time passes, and it is what must be avoided.

Some may ask why it is so important to re-humanize The Holocaust. Indeed, we discussed at our Lessons From Auschwitz seminars why we should not simply forgive and forget, rather than dwelling on such an incomprehensibly evil event in our history. The answer is twofold. First, not to do so would risk allowing it to happen again. It may sound cliché, but the Holocaust presents an example of when we really must learn from the mistakes of the past. There are still problems of racial and religious tension prominent in today’s society; groups such as Roma Gypsies, who themselves were targeted during the Holocaust, are often greeted with prejudice in modern society, showing that whilst we may not reach the extremes of the 1930s and 1940s, we are far from having learnt from the Holocaust in our treatment of different racial groups.

The second is that, whilst we may try and convince ourselves that we would have acted differently, ordinary people allowed the Holocaust to happen. It was not just the Nazis who orchestrated it, but normal people, involved at every stage, and who watched as trains filled with Jewish prisoners passed through their local train stations as they made their own way to work. Nick Robinson shared with us the example of his Jewish grandfather, who worked as a doctor and received a letter from a client informing him that he still wished to use his services, but would be entering the surgery through the back door; a man who was willing to let a Jewish man save his life but would not help to save his in return. This, more than ever, shows that it is our duty now to educate ourselves and others about the problems in society, and to speak out about that which we consider to be wrong. Only then can we truly claim to have learnt from Auschwitz.

Here is more on Nick Robinson’s work with the Holocaust Educational Trust and you can read Freddie Knoller’s testimony here.

Many thanks to LD for this post

Lessons from Auschwitz: Sterilisation Law

2011-07-14T10:35:00.004+01:00

Following my Involvement in the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme (that included a one day visit to the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau in April) I have been inspired to follow, and more importantly to, remember and respect those effected by, a number of key dates in the ‘calendar’ of significant events that mark the of years of the Holocaust.

Today marks the 78th anniversary of the Enactment in Germany of ‘The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring’. Commonly known as the Sterilization Law, the Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring, was a statute in Nazi Germany enacted on July 14, 1933, which allowed the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffered from a list of alleged genetic disorders. The poster above was published in 1936 as propaganda in support of the law.

The list of ‘diseases’ that resulted in the sterilization due to this law included:

Congenital Mental Deficiency
Schizophrenia
Manic-Depressive Insanity,
Hereditary Epilepsy
Hereditary Chorea (Huntington’s)
Hereditary Blindness
Hereditary Deafness
Any severe hereditary deformity.
Any person suffering from severe alcoholism

Nazi leaders believed that only a genetically pure “racial” body would prosper. Thus, state intervention should ensure that only “valuable” and “Aryan” Germans married and reproduced, while others should be prevented from reproducing. Under the Nazi rule, millions of people were subjected to involuntary sterilization in the name of racial hygiene, an effort to purify the German bloodline and establish internationally their superiority as a nation.

This calculated scheme to simply eradicate the reproduction of ‘non-perfect’ people encapsulates the strategic nature and inhumanity of the holocaust. The law, and the lack of opposition towards it, reveals the ever-present human capability to accept discrimination and injustice. Shockingly, Sterilization was never classified as a war crime because so many other Western countries, including the U.S., had similar laws. Thankfully since the darks days of the holocaust we have seen huge global progressions in attitudes to the treatment and acceptance of all kinds of people regardless of disability, sexuality or race. That said, discrimination and injustice is still very much alive all around the world and it is vital that such inhumane legislation as this Sterilisation Law is never forgotten.

For further information, click here for more about Nazi sterilisation and eugenics.
This is an interesting document with useful historical Sources about The Sterilization Law.
This is not specifically about the Holocaust but is a good history of the treatment of People with Disabilities.

Many thanks to ER for this post.

Lessons from Auschwitz

2011-07-14T10:23:00.004+01:00

Two of our sixth form students, ER and LD, visited Auschwitz in April as part of a wider programme to remember what took place during the Holocaust and to explore its significance today. The "Lessons from Auschwitz" programme, organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust, encourages those who participate to share their experiences with their colleagues back at school. They were also able to attend an event for Student Ambassadors on Tuesday where the political journalist Nick Robinson, whose grandparents fled Germany in the 1930s to escape persecution, spoke of why it was so important to remember what took place.

"It is through human stories and not numbers that the Holocaust comes to life," he said, "but there will come a time when survivors are gone and passing on the Holocaust will rest on future generations, particularly those young people who have participated in Lessons from Auschwitz."

Our ambassadors will be posting articles on the blog based on their experiences, and there will be another opportunity for Year 12s to take part in this programme next year.

Blog roll

2011-07-14T09:49:00.003+01:00

The History News Network (Part of George Mason University in Washington DC) has added Nonsuch HP to its blog roll, its list of History blogs from around the world. We are obviously delighted to be part of this, and are particularly pleased to be categorised in the section "Historians who write about many things". The blog roll is a fascinating and ever growing list of specialist blogs on all sorts of topics from 18th Century American women to Ancient Hebrew Poetry. Special mention should also be given to this historical cakes blog!

The world of historical blogging is clearly expanding fast and allows just about anyone with a historical interest to be part of that community. This clearly brings great new opportunities for historical research and collaboration, but there also some drawbacks, as it can be sometimes difficult to assess the reliability of these new sources as their provenance and professional standards are not always clear. Please let us know if you find any particular blogs of interest, or if you get round to cooking any of those historical cakes!

New map of Africa

2011-07-11T15:59:00.003+01:00

The map of Africa changed this weekend with the creation of a new country - Southern Sudan - after years of struggle. There has been conflict between the northern and southern regions of Sudan for over 50 years, and 2 million people died in the most recent conflict which ended in 2005. You can read more about South Sudan here or here from an African perspective

The Guardian meanwhile has published this excellent interactive map charting the changing history of Africa since 1900, and has also produced a new map of the world which you can download here as a pdf or play with it in Prezi format below.

The new world map on Prezi

Mary Seymour

2011-07-11T10:11:00.009+01:00

Tudor historians may know that shortly after the death of Henry VIII, his last wife Katharine Parr married Thomas Seymour (her fourth husband), uncle of Edward VI and brother of his Protector, Edward Seymour. Soon after that she became pregnant and on 30 August 1548 gave birth to a daughter, Mary. But tragedy would soon follow. After the birth, Katharine developed puerperal fever, very common at this time amongst new mothers, and died on 5 September. Thomas Seymour, meanwhile, had already begun an unfortunately flirtatious relationship with Elizabeth Tudor and had become increasingly critical of his brother's rule over the country. This led to a plot to kidnap Edward and raise the country into rebellion. The outcome was inevitable and he was excecuted for treason on 17 March 1549.

So poor Mary had lost both her parents within the first 7 months of her life. But what happened to her after that? It has always been something of a mystery but this History Today article believes it has solved it. A poem was discovered in the archives of Sudely Castle, the home of Thomas Seymour and Mary's place of birth. It reads:

I whom at the cost
Of her own life
My queenly mother
Bore with the pangs of labour
Sleep under this marble
An unfit traveller.

So it would appear that poor Mary probably died in childhood, soon after her parents, probably under the guardianship of the Duchess of Suffolk, who had been reluctant to take her in the first place. A sad end for this tragic family.

No More News of the World

2011-07-08T13:18:00.003+01:00

The closure of the News of the World after 166 years has come as a huge shock to the worlds of politics and the media. The Murdoch family have acted swiftly to prevent further scandal engulfing the title, although there has been much speculation as to how quickly it will be before the Sun becomes a 7 day a week newspaper. There is coverage all over the internet this morning. The Guardian, which broke the latest series of revelations on the hacking scandal with its disclosure on Monday that Milly Dowler's phone had been tapped, has produced this interactive timeline of the phone-hacking scandal. Tbere is also coverage of the press' differing reactions to the story - the Times headline shown above is very telling as it is owned by the Murdochs' company. The Independent's headline is very direct - "Newspaper sacrificed to save one woman." - you can read more on this in its opinion leading article here. Clearly the arrest of Andy Coulson, ex-editor of the News of the World and ex-Downing Street communications chief, this morning keeps the story rolling, and keeps the political dimension open.

What is your opinion on all of this? Please let us know.

Historical Novels

2011-07-08T12:54:00.005+01:00

The summer holidays are almost here, and hopefully this will bring a chance to do a bit of reading, particularly for those who are thinking about their personal statements. Here is an article from the blog that has some non-fiction recommendations, and here is a list of 10 historical novels recommended by the author Andrew Miller. They cover a wide range of periods, from Rosemary Sutcliff's Roman epice "The Eagle of the Ninth" through to "The Siege of Krishnapur" by J G Farrell, set during the Indian Mutiny. He also includes Hilary Mantel - not for her most recent Tudor novel "Wolf Hall", but instead for "A Place of Greater Safety", set during the French Revolution, with many famous figures from the period featuring within it.

Please let us know if you have any recommendations of your own - we would gladly welcome some book reviews!

PS: The image above of the Tennis Court Oath was taken from this surprisingly helpful "How Stuff Works" article on the French Revolution.

Mao's Famine

2011-07-08T12:18:00.006+01:00

On Wednesday the Samuel Johnson Prize, awarded to what is considered to be the best non-fiction book of the year, went to "Mao's Great Famine" by Frank Dikotter. The book explores how up to 45 million people died of hunger between 1958 and 1962 due to the terrible economic mismanagement of the country following Mao's "Great Leap Forward" programme. Dikotter blames Mao personally for this, believing he had little interest in saving the lives of his countrymen. He is quoted as saying, "it is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill." Dikotter has been able to use a Chinese archives not previously accessed by historians to piece together this tragedy. One of the judges said, "This book changed my life - I think differently about the 20th century than I did before...We feel we know who the villains of the 20th century are – Stalin and Hitler. But here, fully 50 years after the event, is something we did not know about. It's a testament to the power of non-fiction, that it can rock you back on your heels."

You can read a review of the book here, and more about the Samuel Johnson Prize here, which was also featured on last night's Culture Show on BBC2.

PS: Here is a list of the previous Samuel Johnson prize winners for those looking for holiday reading (especially personal statement writers!)

2010 Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea Barbara Demick
2009 Leviathan, or the Whale Philip Hoare
2008 The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Kate Summerscale
2007 Imperial Life in the Emerald City Rajiv Chandrasekaran
2006 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare James Shapiro
2005 Like a Fiery Elephant Jonathan Coe
2004 Stasiland Anna Funder
2003 Pushkin: A biography T.J. Binyon
2002 Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 Margaret Macmillan
2001 The Third Reich: A New History Michael Burleigh
2000 Berlioz: Servitude and Greatness David Cairns
1999 Stalingrad Antony Beevor

Happy 4 July

2011-07-04T15:40:00.004+01:00

Today is Independence Day in the USA, and to mark this, Fortune Magazine have come up with 100 American things worth celebrating. The list is pretty random. Number 1 is "opportunity", the interstate highway system is at 2 and the Sears Tower at 3. ESPN is at 6, Fedex trucks are at 7 and pickup trucks are at 11! The Bill of Rights only makes it to 17 (just behind duct tape), and the US armed forces limp in at 64...

The list is rather hard to comprehend from this UK perspective, and we presume is done slightly tongue in cheek, but even so is worth reading to get an idea of what America really finds important.

PS: What do you think should be on this list? Can you think of 100 British things worth celebrating - and which day should we celebrate them on?

What is Michelle Bachmann talking about?

2011-06-30T11:41:00.003+01:00

Michelle Bachmann used her Iowa roots to good advantage by formally declaring her candidacy in Waterlooville, Iowa where she was born. Being the first caucus, Iowa is a key state in the Republican nomination calendar. Bachmann appears to have invented herself as something called a "constitutional conservative". Read the Economist's Democracy in America blog for an attempt to decipher what she means.

Prezi Experiment: Renaissance Art

2011-06-29T15:31:00.003+01:00

This is an experiment with a Prezi, a tool for presenting information, video and images in new and interesting ways. It also includes some useful pictures for Year 7 students studying the Renaissance.

Renaissance Art on Prezi

Film Night

2011-06-29T08:17:00.005+01:00

There's a Politics Film Night this afternoon in the Common Room. The film will be Legally Blonde 2, which follows Elle Woods' (Reese Witherspoon) attempts to lobby Congress on behalf of her chihuahua. It will be at 3.30 and all Year 12s are welcome to attend.

PS: Here are 124 other films set in Washington DC. Let us know if you can recommend any of them!

History and Politics at University

2011-06-28T08:41:00.004+01:00

This Tuesday lunchtime several ex-Nonsuch students will be visiting to talk about their experiences at university. The girls have studied:- History at Oxford, History and German at Oxford, Law at Oxford, Politics at Sheffield and History at Royal Holloway.

Please come along to Room 104 from 1.15 to meet them and ask them questions.

PS: Here are articles on why to study history (from LSE) and politics (from the Political Studies Association) at University.

PPS: Here are a whole sequence of podcasts from the Historical Association with advice from students about studying history.

How far did your studies prepare you for history at university?
What was difficult to get used to?
What does independent study mean?
Handing in your first piece of coursework
What was enjoyable and what was expected/unexpected?
What advice would you give to prospective students?

What opportunities did you have to enhance your experience?
What skills and attributes did this highlight and enhance?
What effect did the additional work have on your studies?
How will this work benefit you beyond your degree?

QR Code

2011-06-28T08:31:00.004+01:00

Nonsuch HP now has its own QR code. If you have a smart phone with a QR code reading app, you can point it at the code and our blog's home page will load automatically - this should also work from the plasma screens that the our blog is regularly displayed on. If you know of any other interesting codes or uses for them, please let us know.

Made in the USSR

2011-06-23T15:41:00.009+01:00

Here is a fascinating article from the Guardian examining the state of design in the Communist USSR. This brings up a stereotype of drab, slightly comical consumer goods like the Zaporozhets car shown above compared to their glamorous Western (particularly American) counterparts. Richard Nixon emphasized this in 1959 when he asked Nikita Khruschev, "Would it not be better to compete in the relative merit of washing machines than in the strength of rockets?" This prickly exchange became known as the "Kitchen Debate". However, although there were many Soviet designs which were clearly knock-offs of their western counterparts, others were genuine classics, such as the Lomo camera and avos shopping bag, with their most impressive features being their simplicity and durability in comparison to the throwaway culture of the west.

You can read more about Soviet design in Michael Idov's book "Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design" - this is perhaps a subject A2 students can explore further within their extended essay.

PS: If you liked the Zaporozhets, there is much more of this sort of thing at oldrussiancars.com

Politics Reading List - great for UCAS

2011-06-23T10:44:00.003+01:00

With the preparation for UCAS applications now well under way, see here for advice about additional reading for students considering either Politics or any related subjects at university. Comments on any books on the list would certainly look good on a UCAS application but remember - if you mention a book on a personal statement make sure you actually read the book!!

Who's who in Tudor History

2011-06-22T14:59:00.001+01:00

This site has been mentioned before but is worth reminding students starting the A2 course this week. It allows you to keep track of the main figures in Tudor history, showing in particular how their titles and job descriptions changed over time. It comes from http://tudorhistory.org/which has a wealth of other useful information. (It also has a Tudor Blog)

Potential 2012 Candidates

2011-06-22T14:18:00.003+01:00

Keep an eye on this BBC list to see which Republicans have announced their bid for the US Presidency in 2012. The newest contender is Jon Huntsman, the former governor of Utah who has also served as Barack Obama's ambassador to China - this may well be a source of criticism amongst his fellow Republicans. Other interesting contenders include Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Yet to declare her interest though is Sarah Palin. We will see how things develop over the summer.

Does accuracy matter in historical drama?

2011-06-22T08:47:00.003+01:00

An interesting debate in the BBC News History Magazine on the Kennedys programme regarding historical accuracy. Definitely worth watching, the Kennedys tells the story of John F Kennedy's background and rise to power covering issues such as his relationship with his domineering father and his wife Jackie. It is very controversial in the States and was pulled by many of the major channels, supposedly under pressure from the Kennedy family. Does it matter that dramas take liberties with history? Would anyone ever watch historical drama if it didn't? How true do you think their interpretation is?
Here is the link to the programme on BBCIPlayer and here a link to the Kennedy Home movies - a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes and also a special debate on the Culture Show. Enjoy.

Aung San Suu Kyi

2011-06-21T08:44:00.004+01:00

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader who was put under house arrest for many years by the military government, has secretly recorded two lectures for the BBC. In them she speaks movingly about the price she and her fellow activists have paid for freedom, with many being jailed or even killed by the authorities.

"They pretend to be unafraid as they go about their duties and pretend not to see that their comrades are also pretending," she says. "This is courage that has to be renewed consciously from day to day and moment to moment. This is how the battle for freedom has to be fought until such time as we have the right to be free from the fear imposed by brutality and injustice." This insight into her struggle should certainly make us grateful for the freedoms we take for granted in our own country.

You can read more about her here at the Burma campaign's UK website and in this BBC profile. The lectures will be broadcast on 28 June and 5 July on Radio 4.

General Strike

2011-06-20T09:19:00.004+01:00

With the threat of industrial action now looming across the country, here is an interesting article from the BBC about the General Strike of 1926. On 4 May 1926, 1.75 million people refused to work, largely in solidarity with 1 million coal miners who had been locked out of work over a dispute over pay. The strikers included transport workers, dock workers, gas, electric, iron and steel workers. The strike took place during an economically difficult decade, shortly after the end of the first world war and during concerns that communism could increase its influence following the successful revolution in Russia. The army were called in to protect food lorries, and fights broke out between strikers and police. Many people became volunteers in order to keep the country moving. 9 days later the TUC called off the strike, to the surprise of many, with few conditions met. Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, introduced the Trades Disputes Act, whic prevented sympathy striking, as a response to this. It was repealed several years later, but was then reintroduced by Mrs Thatcher, and remains in force today.

You can read more about the strike here (BBC Bitesize), here (Wikipedia) and here (National Archives) and watch YouTube footage here.

Calendar

2011-06-20T09:03:00.002+01:00

Nonsuch HP now has a calendar on the right of the page. Keep an eye on it for interesting events, and please let us know if you think there is anything that should be added. There seem to be a couple of "issues" with it at the moment - the dates should all be of course in 2011, not 3911 as seems to appear in some browsers! Also, although each event is presented as a link, these links are currently not working. Hopefully Google will sort this out soon.

PS: If you would like to know about the history of the calendar, and how we ended up with our system of days, months and years, click here.

100 Greatest Non-Fiction Books

2011-06-17T08:48:00.003+01:00

The Guardian has produced a list of what it considers to be the 100 greatest non-fiction books. Lists like this are always going to be subjective, but it is interesting how many historical and political books have made it on to the list, with 11 and 13 books respectively, compared with only one for Mathematics and five for science. This suggests that either the subjects of History and Politics lend themselves more naturally to books that can be considered great literature, or that those consulted for the article were somewhat biased in their favour. What do you think?

Here are the choices (Click for more details here)

History
The Histories (Herodotus: c400 BC)
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Edward Gibbon: 1776)
The History of England (Thomas Babington Macaulay: 1848)
Eichmann in Jerusalem (Hannah Arendt: 1963)
The Making of the English Working Class (EP Thompson: 1963)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Dee Brown: 1970)
Hard Times: an Oral History of the Great Depression (Studs Terkel: 1970)
Shah of Shahs (Ryszard Kapuściński: 1982)
The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 (Eric Hobsbawm: 1994)
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Familes (Philip Gourevitch: 1999)
Postwar (Tony Judt: 2005)

Politics
The Art of War (Sun Tzu: c500 BC)
The Prince (Niccolò Machiavelli: 1532)
Leviathan (Thomas Hobbes: 1651)
The Rights of Man (Thomas Paine: 1791)
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Mary Wollstonecraft: 1792)
The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: 1848)
The Souls of Black Folk (WEB DuBois: 1903)
The Second Sex (Simone de Beauvoir: 1949)
The Wretched of the Earth (Franz Fanon: 1961)
The Medium is the Massage (Marshall McLuhan: 1967)
The Female Eunuch (Germaine Greer: 1970)
Manufacturing Consent (Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman: 1988)
Here Comes Everybody (Clay Shirky: 2008)

Down with History?

2011-06-16T14:06:00.002+01:00

Here is a contentious American article (picked up by Andrew Sullivan in the Daily Beast) questioning the worth of studying History, believing that anyone with a basic reading comprehension can teach themselves the basics - maybe even through watching documentaries on TV! It goes on to compare the subject with art, which it believes is a "skill which requires careful instruction" and is a "more practical real world subject". What are your thoughts?

Strange Tudor Deaths

2011-06-16T10:33:00.004+01:00

Stephen Gunn, the Tudor Historian, has compiled a list of strange ways that people during the Tudor period died after four years of extensive research of coroners reports from the period. These include being attacked by a bear, accidents involving maypoles and the danger of going near a cesspit whilst drunk. You can read about 10 of them in this BBC article. The deaths are clearly rather unfortunate for the individuals involved, but also give us a window into the lives of "ordinary people" during this period. For example, the accounts of people drowning whilst washing in the river show that cleanliness was important to Tudor people, despite the false stereotypes we have of Queen Elizabeth rarely taking a bath. The maypoles and bears show the variety of popular entertainment available to people. Other sport related deaths were connected to accidents from football, wrestling, bell-ringing and sledgehammer throwing.

One particularly sad story is the death of Jane Shaxspere, aged 2 years old, who drowned after falling into a millpond whilst picking marigolds. She was the cousin of William Shakespeare, and it seems quite likely that this incident influenced him when writing about the death of Ophelia in Hamlet, who also drowned whilst picking flowers. Interestingly, the picture of Ophelia used to illustrate this post was painted by John Everett Millais very close to here, by the Hogsmill River near Old Malden

PS: Many thanks to AC for the telling us about this article!

Nonsuch HP goes Mobile

2011-06-16T10:04:00.003+01:00

Nonsuch HP has been redesigned so that it is easier to read on your mobile. Please let us know how it looks and if there are any improvements we can make.

Horrible Histories Returns

2011-06-07T09:54:00.005+01:00

The BBC's Horrible Histories has returned for a third series, to much acclaim from the media. The second series won a British Comedy Award, and there are plans to put it on at primetime with Stephen Fry as its host.

This Guardian article examines why it has been so successful - mainly by not underestimating its audience and whether it can be considered as a "proper" history programme? Tristram Hunt, the historian and Labour MP, criticised its "cartoon content", saying "there are more sophisticated, populist ways of getting people involved in history than this." Dan Snow meanwhile agreed that it wasn't a serious look at history, but believed that it gave a good sense of the past and should be praised for "celebrating" history and making it accessible. What do you think? Let us know, and also please pass on any clips that are worth sharing.

PS: The picure above is of Charles II as the "King of Bling". We can also recommend this Historical Masterchef sketch, and fans of The Four Georges will be pleased to know that George IV has released his debut solo single.

Politics A2 advice

2011-06-07T09:43:00.002+01:00

With the A2 Politics exams fast approaching, Year 13 students would benefit from looking here for a very useful article on the tutor2u website about the exam hall strategies.

GOOD LUCK!!

King Canute

2011-05-27T12:17:00.006+01:00

King Canute (or Cnut - on the right of the picture above)was the Viking King of Denmark and Norway who captured the throne of England, conquering the country and ruling it from 1016-1035. Yet the only thing he is really known for is "trying to stop the tide coming in". Recent articles about the Ryan Giggs affair (Nonsuch HP is reasonably confident we can mention his name now without getting sued!) have suggested that he has acted like "King Canute" in trying to stop everyone talking about him on Twitter - ie once the cat has been let out of the bag (mixing metaphors a bit) you can't put it back in.

However, this BBC article suggests that the Canute legend is unfair. The first written account of his reign, by Henry of Huntingdon, suggests that Canute did indeed go down to beach at Bosham, Sussex, and order the waves not to come any further onto the land. However he didn't do this because he was power-mad, but because he knew that his order would fail, and would prove that there were some things beyond his control. In other words, it was an early lesson in the limitations of political power. Indeed Professor Simon Keynes regards him as quite a remarkable king rather than the pompous buffoon of legend. However, Canute in real life was unlikely to have been that humble. His successful conquest of England and his clever marriage to Emma of Normandy, widow of the Saxon King, suggests that he was a remarkably talented soldier and politician.

BBC programmes

2011-05-26T08:55:00.003+01:00

Some excellent programmes on BBC2 and BBC4 over the last couple of days. For historians, Fergal Keane's Story of Ireland covered Elizabeth's reign and Hugh O'Neill's rebellion with a clear Irish interpretation but one that reveals more about how the Irish were viewed in the 16th century. Last night, for the politicians there were two excellent programmes - the Highest Court in the Land about the UK Supreme Court with an interesting interview with Lord Phillips, President of the Supreme Court and Heath and Wilson which was a fascinating exploration of the relationship between these two prime ministers of the 1960s and 70s. All on iplayer, all worth watching - both for interest and the exams.

The Obamas' Speeches

2011-05-26T08:48:00.005+01:00

Barack Obama's speech to both Houses of Parliament is well worth taking the time to read. Here is a transcript alongside commentary from BBC correspondents. What is particularly interesting is the way he draws together shared values between the UK and the USA, many of which come directly from British history.

"What began on this island would inspire millions throughout the continent of Europe and across the world," he said.

"But perhaps no-one drew greater inspiration from these notions of freedom than your rabble-rousing colonists on the other side of the Atlantic. As Winston Churchill said, the "…Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus, trial by jury, and English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence."

"For both of our nations, living up to the ideals enshrined in these founding documents has sometimes been difficult, has always been a work in progress. The path has never been perfect. But through the struggles of slaves and immigrants; women and ethnic minorities; former colonies and persecuted religions, we have learned better than most that the longing for freedom and human dignity is not English or American or Western - it is universal, and it beats in every heart."

He goes on to look at how these values have fared in the 20th and 21st Century, coping with military, political and economic challenges, and his central point is that they are still relevant and have much to offer in the global community.

The BBC's Mark Mardell was slightly underwhelmed, believing that Obama had taken on too many challenges to resolve successfully in one speech, but that the central argument was one worthy of further debate. Perhaps we will hear more on this as the cavalcade moves on to Normandy today for the G8 conference.

Meanwhile we should not ignore the other great speech of the day, when Michelle Obama told a group of South London schoolgirls (who she had previously met two years earlier) to "aim high" and "not be afraid to fail". She emphasized the point by taking them to Christ Church College, Oxford, which has produced 13 Prime Ministers. She was asked what had attracted her to Barack in the first place, and answered that he was "funny and smart" and a "voracious reader"! So now you know how to spot potential presidents...

Barack's in town

2011-05-24T09:20:00.005+01:00

Today marks the beginning of President Obama's state visit to the UK - only the third such visit made by an American President in the last century, although the Queen has notched up an impressive 101 state visitors during her reign.

Obama has already had a very successful tour of Ireland, where he has drunk Guiness in his ancestors' home of Moneygall (and got his car stuck on a ramp). Americana this Sunday had a very interesting report on why Presidents (and Americans in general) are so keen to celebrate their Irish ancestry, and it is well worth listening to. You can also click on this map to see how other Presidents, including Reagan, Bush and, of course, Kennedy have acknowledged their Irish roots.

There will be much talk during the UK visit about the "Special Relationship" between the US and the UK. Obama and Cameron have published an article in the Times this morning explaining that the relationship remains "essential". Not everyone would agree, and this article suggests that Obama has deliberately moved away from emphasizing the UK as a key ally in order to promote alliances elsewhere.

Here is some more information about what exactly state visits are for, and here is some footage of some previous presidential visits.

PS: Here is a super-detailed Daily Mail graphic of the Presidential Car - known as the Beast! Click on it to enlarge the picture and ">click here for further info and videos.

PPS: Here are further articles on the "Special Relationship" from the New York Times and Washington Post.

Nonsuch Palace

2011-05-19T14:41:00.005+01:00

Here is a fascinating article about Nonsuch Palace, from which our school of course takes its name. It explains how the palace was designed as a "privy palace" for Henry VIII - built exclusively for his private enjoyment. It was therefore quite small compared to more public palaces like Whitehall but was very lavishly furnished. Construction began in 1541 and when Henry took his courtiers to see it 4 years later tents had to be erected to accommodate everyone. Eventually it was completed in 1548, by which time Henry had died and his son Edward VI was too young to appreciate it. Mary Tudor sold it to the Earl of Arundel, but Elizabeth I reacquired it towards the end of her reign. It was eventually given by Charles II to his mistress, the Duchess of Cleveland, who had it demolished and sold off to pay off her gambling debts. Some of the interior of the palace can now be seen in Loseley House, near Guildford and some of its objects are in the Whitehall Museum in Cheam and the British Museum in London.

The blog where this article comes from is an excellent piece of work dedicated to Anne Boleyn (who died on 19 May - this blog's birthday!) with links to contemporary documents and more recent films and novels about her life. The article also includes video from the "Time Team" programme on Nonsuch Palace and a link to a walk that you can take around the site in Nonsuch Park so you can imagine what life must have been like there as a Tudor hunting ground.

Nonsuch HP is 2

2011-05-19T10:26:00.006+01:00

Today is Nonsuch HP's second birthday. It's been a turbulent 12 months, dominated by events in the Middle East and North Africa such as the "Arab Spring" in Egypt and Tunisia, conflict in Libya and Afghanistan and the capture of Osama Bin Laden. In the UK we have had a new Labour leader, a referendum and a Royal Wedding, and have watched the coalition come under increasing strain. President Obama's fortunes have fallen and risen dramatically over the last 12 months, and there does not yet seem to be a credible Republican challenger to him for the 2012 elections. At Nonsuch we have enjoyed visits from Emmett Sullivan, Jon Davis and Kate Rea, and a very successful castle competition, but if we had to sum the the year up with one event, 2010-11 will probably be remembered for Lembit Opik's visit!

Whitehall

2011-05-18T14:50:00.004+01:00

Nonsuch HP paid a brief visit to Whitehall in Cheam today. This is a beautiful Tudor building, built in about 1500 as a farmer's house, which has now been restored as a museum. There are a fascinating collection of rooms on display to the public, reflecting the various "improvements" the house underwent during its life. From 1741 to 1963 it was home to the Killick family who were also closely associated with Cheam School. There are exhibitions about the family, the school and also Nonsuch Palace in several of the rooms - the Palace exhibition includes several Tudor jugs and pieces of crockery that were found when the site was excavated.

The most interesting thing in the museum is the "graffiti door". On it is written the word "Remember" - the last thing Charles I said before his execution, showing that the Killicks clearly had close sympathy with the royalist cause. Whitehall also used to be known as "The Council House" as it is said that Elizabeth I had an impromptu council meeting there to sign papers while she was out hunting from the palace. The house seems a little cramped for this sort of thing, but makes for a good story!

You can find out more about Whitehall (including opening hours) here. It's well worth a visit and also has a good tea garden!

PS: You can find out more about other interesting historic places in Cheam here.

The Queen in Ireland

2011-05-17T15:14:00.004+01:00

It is 100 years since a British monarch was in Ireland and the first time since Ireland became independent from Britain. Quite a historic occasion. The BBC have an overview of the historical significance by the articulate Alan Little and also a magazine article on the history.

A year in coalition

2011-05-10T14:31:00.003+01:00

Andrew Rawnsley presents a great Dispatches programme outlining the key events in politics over the last year. Fantastic for revision as it looks at the key reasons behind the coalition and the developments since. Watch it here for the next month on Channel 4OD and read Rawnsley's view of the most recent events in his Guardian column. A loveless marriage? What do you think?

Further footage of the year in coalition here on the BBC.

AV Referendum tomorrow

2011-05-04T12:15:00.003+01:00

The Referendum is nearly upon as, as are the elections for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly and English local councils. This BBC page is a helpful one-stop shop for analysis of what is taking place, including Jeremy Vine's short video guide with the usual whizzy graphics. If you missed them, here are the campaign broadcasts for the Yes and No campaigns for the referendum.

This is another attempt to explain AV to the wider public and here is BBC3's attempt to debate the subject with young voters (and Richard Bacon).

How do you think it's all going to turn out? Please let us have your predictions!

Does Bin Laden Deserve a Place in History?

2011-05-03T20:46:00.002+01:00

The dramatic events in Pakistan on Monday led to the death of Osama Bin Laden and the end of a nearly ten year-long manhunt following the terrorist attacks on September 11. His death is clearly significant, and has led to a huge amount of media coverage around the world and given Barack Obama a helpful victory at a politically significant time. This BBC article takes a longer view, considering Bin Laden's background and career and whether historians will consider him of significance in the long term, particularly in the light of the recent dramatic events in Egypt, Libya and Syria which have had little involvement from Al Qaeda.

War Historian dies

2011-05-01T21:32:00.008+01:00

Richard Holmes, the charismatic, war historian, died today at the comparatively young age of 65. He was suffering from cancer. He is probably best known for his TV series War Walks which told the story of a range of battles from Hastings in the 11th century to the Somme in the 20th. Here is the BBC's biography of him and here is a link to the Somme version of War Walks on Youtube. However, he also presented other series on Oliver Cromwell, Sir Winston Churchill and the Duke of Wellington.

Royal Wedding - One Day to Go

2011-04-28T09:39:00.006+01:00

The Royal Wedding is nearly upon us, and the internet and media have been awash with articles and programmes analysing every aspect of it in great detail. Here are a few stories you may have missed.

A researcher has discovered that Prince William is related to a 17th Century member of the Middleton family - a "hard-drinking" Scot who rose through the ranks of the army to become Commander of the Covenanting Forces in Scotland, later switching sides to become Charles II's commissioner to the Scottish Parliament and the governor of Tangier. He was titled the Earl of Middleton for this, but unfortunately his drinking led to his downfall - one night in 1674 he fell downstairs "befuddled with drink" and died from his injuries. He was an ancestor of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who would later become the Queen mother.

Kate will eventually become the Sixth Queen Catherine of England. Here is a guide to the other ones, by Philippa Gregory. Everyone knows about Henry VIII's wives, but the others are also interesting. The first Queen Catherine was Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V. They were only married a year before his untimely death in 1420 but she had time to conceive a son and heir, Henry VI. She then went on to have 5 children with Owen Tudor, including Edmund and Jasper Tudor. Edmund was the father of Henry Tudor and Jasper was his loyal uncle. Catherine died in 1437 but her coffin was accidentally opened 100 years later and became a strange tourist attraction until she was reburied in Victorian times.

The BBC have provided an impressive site where you can get all the latest wedding news, and there is also an official site you can now download your own programme from Will and Kate.

Enjoy the day, and please let us know if there is anything else worth mentioning on the blog.

PS: If you are bored, you can always try this Wills and Kate wedding game.

West Wing Week

2011-04-24T20:47:00.005+01:00

It is the first anniversary of the weekly video update from the White House. There are a few videos to celebrate including an interview with the videographer Arun Chaudhary and the Deputy Press Secretary. The BBC also has a short interview with Arun Chaudhary.
What do you think - is this a way of making the Presidency more transparent or is it blatant propaganda?

Yuri Gagarin

2011-04-13T22:53:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was the 50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space - the first human being ever to do so. You can watch a video of him in action and read about why he is still considered such a great hero in Russia here.

American Civil War: 150 Years On

2011-04-11T10:17:00.002+01:00

Wednesday April 12 marks the 150th anniversary of the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in 1861, which effectively marked the beginning of hostilities in the American Civil War. As you can imagine, there are plenty of articles about this including the New York Times' special timeline and this interactive battle map.

The BBC have noted the anniversary with repeats of "Empire of Liberty", its history of the United States. You can listen to the episodes relating to the civil war here. You can also here the special edition of Americana, examining the effects of the Civil War on modern America here (recommended!)

Some Easter Reading

2011-04-08T13:23:00.003+01:00

The Easter Holidays are finally here. Nonsuch HP will go a little quiet over the next few weeks, but will add a few links to this post if there are any political and historical stories that may be of interest.

Here are a few to get us started:

Malcolm X - A new biography has been published about him. This article explores the man behind the myth.

Who was Britain's greatest ever general? The National Army Museum has conducted a poll and came up with this shortlist: Oliver Cromwell, Douglas Haig, Bill Slim, the Duke of Marlborough and the Duke of Wellington. Read more about them in this article for the Today programme.

Is the British Empire to blame for many of the world's problems? David Cameron seemed to suggest so in his recent speech in Pakistan, but not everyone would agree. Here are two historians' opposing views.

LOL! The famous internet acronym has been added to the Oxford Dictionary, but did you know it is nearly 30 years old, and the French version is "mdr"? (mort de rir - died of laughing - the Thai version is 555, because 5 in Thai is pronounced ha!) More stuff like this here.

That's enough to get you going. If you spot anything else that's interesting, please add a comment below. Happy Easter everyone

GCSE Revision Lists

2011-04-08T13:15:00.003+01:00

GCSE Revision Lists have now been published on the History Dept Blog. Click here for a direct link. They are also available on Fronter. It will also tell you why this picture has been chosen for this post!

Sutton Bookshare

2011-04-07T10:13:00.002+01:00

Sutton Borough Council has just announced an interesting new scheme to encourage people to share their books with each other. People who sign up can search for books they find interesting, and then make contact with the owner to borrow the book for a convenient length of time. The council considers this to be a "world first" and hopes it will encourage a greater sense of community and interest in books. Others, as shown in this Guardian article, are concerned that this could be used as an excuse to make cuts to library services - the Council has already stated its intention to make savings, mainly in reduction of opening hours rather than closing the libraries themselves.

You can access the scheme here. Let us know if you find any interesting books!