General Strike

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 It was repealed several years later, but was then reintroduced by Mrs Thatcher, and remains in force today.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.

War Historian dies

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.

Margaret Thatcher's resignation

Today is the 20th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's resignation as Prime Minister. A controversial figure still today, she was nevertheless Britain's first and only woman Prime Minister, one of the longest serving prime ministers of the twentieth century and an important leader of political change. For those for whom this seems a long time ago, here are a few reminders of her resignation and her premiership as a whole: here is the BBC's On This Day article with some clips, the Telegraph's view and the New Stateman's selection of different views. Do you have any views on Margaret Thatcher? Is she an inspiration to budding female politicians or an example of how not to be a woman in politics?

Garrow's Law

For those mourning the loss of Downton Abbey, Garrow's Law is a great replacement. Set in 18th century London, it tells the tale of William Garrow, a pioneering barrister at the Old Bailey, and his defence of various unsavoury cases. Before the opening up of the Old Bailey's archives Garrow was little known even among the legal community. This series uses these archives to explore his character and the developments that were made in the legal profession by him at the end of the 18th century. Last night's episode dealt with the case of the Zong slave ship: 'When 133 African prisoners are thrown overboard from a slave ship in suspicious circumstances, Garrow challenges the brutal trade that regards slaves as cargo'. Although a real case, Garrow did not actually take this particular case on but he was a campaigner against the slave trade. How do writers of historical dramas reconcile fact with fiction? Tony Marchant, who wrote Garrow's Law, explains how he did it.

Downton Abbey

Julian Fellowes' new drama on ITV makes great Sunday night viewing - wonderful to look at and well-written, it is also full of familiar faces such as Maggie Smith. It is set in 1912, just before the First World War. This period was looked back on with nostalgia by those who subsequently experienced the War but it was not the idyllic time that it has been painted. See here for ITV's website for previous episodes (2 so far) and background information and here for the Telegraph's analysis of our continuing affection for the era.

70th Anniversary today of the Blitz

Today is the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Blitz - the German luftwaffe's campaign to bomb Britain into submission. The start focused on London and lasted for 76 consecutive nights. See the Guardian for an interesting article and a great interactive map showing where the bombs fell on the first night. See also the BBC History site where there are clips of interviews with those who remember the onslaught.

The History Debate continues...

Fun and war games in History? The Western ascendancy and battlefield trips? Niall Ferguson in a Guardian interview continues the debate over History in schools with more suggestions on how to engage pupils. What do you think? Is it too male an agenda, ie rejecting school trips to stately homes and enhusing about the value of video games? Or is he realistic in his suggestions in an environment where more pupils are taking up Design & Technology than History?

Summer reading

On the subject of summer reading... here is an interview with Peter Hennessy about the recent release of his updated version of 'The Secret State: Preparing for the Worst 1945-2010'. It is a great interview with Hennessy who gives a glimpse of his thorough research and analysis together with some great anecdotes. The book is well worth considering for a summer read particularly if you are looking for an issue to mention in your personal statement and you are interested in the Cold War.
Add any books you have found that might be worth a read...

De Gaulle's broadcast

President Sarkozy is in the UK today to commemmorate the 70th anniversary of General De Gaulle's broadcast from the BBC studios in London to the French just before France's surrender to the Germans in 1940. The French resistance was inspired by his words - "Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished" - and De Gaulle's leadership was an important feature of the Second World War. See the BBC's report and the Guardian's report at the weekend of a new biography which uncovers Britain's suspicion of De Gaulle. France's celebrations of events during the Second World War tend to be more muted than Britain's due to its Nazi occupation so it is particularly important for it to promote De Gaulle's and the French Resistance's activities.

PS: Here is a fascinating comment from the head of BBC History on the significance of the speech - it is a really important event for the French and Nicolas Sarkozy himself has said 'We are all the children of the 18 June' Here is further comment (in French) from L'Express.

PPS: June 18 also marks the 70th Anniversary of Churchill's "Finest Hour" speech, the third of 3 famous speeches given during his first month as Prime Minister. The Sun have made the most of this occasion as you can see below...

Codebreakers in WWII

Bletchley Park's documents are to be digitised and put online. The site where WWII's code and cipher school were based has a long-term project to make the documents available to the public. See the story on the BBC and the Times.
A group of Year 8 Maths and History pupils visited the site yesterday and had a fantastic time touring the Park where about 10,000 people were eventually based but that remained top secret both during the war and for three decades afterwards. We were able to use the German Enigma machine that encrypted and decrypted German messages and saw the first digitised computer called Colossus which took up a large room!
Another cross-curricular link with the History Department was made by Year 9 who visited Jersey over half-term to go to Gerald Durrell's Wildlife Conservation Trust. While on the island, they visited the Jersey War Tunnels Museum which also displays an Enigma machine. Jersey, and the other Channel Islands, had a very different experience of the War to the rest of the UK as they were invaded and occupied by the Germans. See the War Tunnels site here for more information.

28th May 1961

Today is the day when in 1961 Peter Benenson launched his campaign in the London Observer for the release of people who were imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their beliefs, what was to become Amnesty International. See here for the story and a short video from the Historical Association. Look at Amnesty's latest campaigns or join the school's Amnesty Society for more information.

Recreation of Dunkirk

Today is the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 in the face of the advancing German army. See here for the recreation of the help given by little ships in the evacuation and here for the Spartacus site's information about Dunkirk and a video clip of colour footage. Was Dunkirk a defeat or a victory? GCSE students should be able to tell us!

The most ambitious reform since 1832?

What do you think - is this the greatest political reform since 1832? Nick Clegg certainly seems to think so. His suggestions in a speech today are important for the constitutional reform topic for Politics students and obviously ideal for Historians wanting a quick overview of some of the key statistics and reforms involved in 1832. A valid comparison or a huge exaggeration?

Ex-Head of MI5 on torture

A fascinating talk last night at the House of Lords by Eliza Manningham-Buller, the ex-Head of MI5, where she admitted that the Americans had been less than forthcoming about their mistreatment of detainees to the British secret service. Here is the BBC report on the issue and here is the report on it by the Huffington Post in the US. She made it very clear that the British view was that torture was completely unacceptable and that to use torture was to become like the enemy you were trying to fight.

Michael Foot, former Labour leader, dies

Michael Foot, a controversial figure while leader, has been praised highly when his death was announced yesterday. He is probably known best for his defeat in the 1983 election on a manifesto which was called 'the longest suicide note in history'! His replacement by Neil Kinnock started the reform of the Labour Party and what we know today as New Labour. Have a look at the obituaries, here on the BBC and here on Channel 4.

As you can imagine, there are plenty of interesting comments and reminiscences about Michael Foot in the Guardian, which you can link to here.

Professor Eric Evans

Professor Eric Evans of Lancaster University is visiting Nonsuch tomorrow (Tuesday 23 February) at lunchtime in the Library from 1.15-2.15pm.
His talk is to discuss the question 'What's so great about the Great Reform Act?' and is essential for those who are studying Liberal Democracies currently or who studied it last year. Professor Evans is an expert on this period in Britain, having written numerous books and pamphlets. He is also interested in the more recent periods of history, specifically Thatcherism. Here is his site at Lancaster University.

Nick Barratt

Nick Barratt has very kindly agreed to come and visit the school on Tuesday lunchtime at 1.20pm in the Library.
He was the genealogical consultant for the BBC programmes 'Who do you think you are?' and is coming to talk to History and Politics Society about family trees. Look at his background on his website here as well as the websites for the magazine 'Who do you think you are?' here and the BBC's family history site here. Everyone welcome and bring lots of questions about how to research your family or about Nick's experiences on the numerous TV programmes he has been involved with.

18th century women

Just a few suggestions on books about famous and/or important women in the 18th century. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire is a great read and there is now a film that covers her life story. Here is Amanda Foreman’s website which has exerpts from the book and information about other books she has written. Stella Tillyard is another author who has written some great books about eighteenth century women – from Aristocrats, about the lives of the Lennox sisters, to A Royal Affair, about the lives of George III’s siblings. See here for an interview with Stella Tillyard. Finally, it is worth reading Antonia Fraser's book on Marie Antoinette for a different view - here is her website.

Alison Weir on Anne Boleyn

Alison Weir - our visitor last year - has written a new book on the last days of Anne Boleyn investigating the reasons for and circumstances of her fall. Very kindly, an old Nonsuch girl who left last year gave us a copy of the book which is now in the library. Here is a review from the Independent and here is a podcast of a discussion with Alison Weir at the British Library. Enjoy!

A Scottish perspective

A new series of a History of Scotland returned last night. Dramatically told by Neil Oliver, it gives a very Scottish perspective on events from Charles I's reign and the growth of Presbyterianism to the Glorious Revolution of 1689. It tells the story of the Covenanters, radical presbyterians who signed an agreement between God and the people to retain their religion, and who were partly responsible for the Civil Wars. See here for the BBC's Scotland's History site and watch the programme.