Blogs about History

In my previous post, I discussed my concerns with the way sources are used in Neil Hanson's First Blitz.1 Here I turn to the problem of strategy, which goes more to the argument of the …

My brother Richard and I were at mom's house in Huntsville recently and found this postcard in some family memorabilia. The card, dated by postmark October 26, 1918, was sent by our paternal grandfather, Amos …

Word of the contract that Magellan and Faleiro had signed with the Spanish crown made its way quickly back to Lisbon, creating much consternation in the court of King Manuel. Although the contract itself was …

The remains of The Cluniac Priory of Our Lady of Thetford The Cluniac Priory of Our Lady, Thetford, was first founded on the Suffolk side of the Little Ouse river by Roger Bigod in the …

The long awaited discussion between Graham Hancock and archaeologist Flint Dibble on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast is now available. Here are my thoughts after listening to the whole four and a half hour thing, …

Yoram Gross (1926–2015) was born in Krakow Poland, to a Jewish family. He lived during WW2 under the Nazis, with his family on Oskar Sch­in­d­ler’s list of humans rescued from slaughter in 1944, but the …

This popular annual event returns to KCL on 17th May 2024. This one day event features a range of papers of original research in all areas of film culture in Britain and areas affected by …

***I’ve been absent for a couple of months because I was locked out of the account! Just to let you know that Chris and I continue to do our podcasts and there has been an …

Cap, c.1840, in LACMA.I really like how the texture of the different materials come through in this cap. But my count there's at least four different materials--scalloped lace, spotted net, striped ribbon, and a diagonal-striped …

HISTORY OF ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON Saint George’s Day is April 23, likely the day of his martyrdom. He is often depicted as a knight in armor. He is the patron saint of England, …

Many apologies to subscribers who received a notification of a new post earlier today. Unfortunately this was an error on my part. I was working on an upcoming essay and managed to hit the “publish” …

The first part of my three-part series on medieval linen armour has appeared in Medieval Clothing and Textiles 18. Whereas in some periods linen armour is commonly showed in paintings and sculptures, there are very …

The Newberry Library in Chicago is hosting a Digital Humanities workshop on Frederick Douglass during Black History Month. Undergraduate and graduate students in History at Northern Illinois University may be interested in participating in this …

Over the last seven days at The Archive we have added an incredible half a million brand new newspaper pages, alongside three brand new titles, as we use our new pages to learn more about …

Hey folks, this week is a bit of a gap week as I am heading out to the annual meeting of the Society for Military History (and, indeed, by the time you read this, I …

Coronacian day.[Continued from yesterday. P.G.] … about 4 I rose and got to the Abbey, where I followed Sir J. Denham, the Surveyor, with some company that he was leading in. And with much ado, …

This post was inspired by the Turba philosophorum lecture on the 4th Feb 2022 An athanor is an alchemical furnace, but what exactly does it mean in practise? And I really do mean practise because …

For this post, I am going to wander into the world of crime in the late eighteenth century, and the grisly fate that befell many who committed the heinous crime of highway robbery. (Full disclosure: …

In Our Name: Royal Letters, Power and Diplomacy in Scotland and England (1513-1542) Performing and Resisting Power in Early Modern Life Plate 1 from Thomas May, Arbitrary government displayed to the life, 1690. Image from …