Latest Posts
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Twelve Days of Christmas: Six Geese a-Laying
By Professor Anne Lawrence-Mathers As this is the History blog, today presents an opportunity to celebrate the Six Great Geese of History (as chosen by us). They will be presented – obviously – in chronological order. First up is Aesop’s… Continue reading
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Twelve Days of Christmas: Five Gold Rings
By Dr Heike Schmidt Five Rings of Gold – But Where Did It Come From? When the Gold Coast gained independence from Britain in 1957 the anti-colonial nationalists proudly renamed the country Ghana. Their first head of stead, Kwame Nkrumah,… Continue reading
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Twelve Days of Christmas: Four Calling Birds
By Dr James P. Bowen In 2018, Dr James P. Bowen of Leeds Trinity University was awarded the Poultry Club of Great Britain Research Fellowship at the University of Reading’s Museum of English Rural Life. ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’… Continue reading
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Twelve Days of Christmas: Three French Hens
By Professor Joel Felix To a French historian the three French hens of the 12 Days of Christmas inevitably recalls the story of King Henri IV and the poule au pot (chicken in the pot) which was popularized by Voltaire… Continue reading
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Twelve Days of Christmas: Two Turtle Doves – Boiled!
By Professor David Stack Charles Darwin was not a romantic. The brutally pragmatic ‘Pros and Cons list’ he wrote before deciding upon marriage to his cousin Emma Wedgwood proves that. We can safely assume that if the nineteenth century’s greatest… Continue reading
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Twelve Days of Christmas: A Partridge in a Pear Tree
By Professor Anne Lawrence-Mathers The partridge is the only figure in the song which appears every day throughout the twelve days of Christmas. There is an obvious explanation – the partridge is not only the harbinger of holidays (and food… Continue reading
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Twelve Days of Christmas: The Origins
By Professor Helen Parish Once again we have a chance to embrace that particularly delightful seasonal treat, untangling the Christmas fairy lights. If the season of goodwill has barely started before the recriminations and apportioning of blame begin, consider the… Continue reading
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The Rugby World Cup and the Born Free Dancing Victory
By Dr Heike Schmidt On Saturday 2 November the ‘Springboks’, South Africa’s national rugby team, won the world cup in the final game against England. There has been a much-reported twitter storm in response to one of the Springbok players,… Continue reading
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Learning to Listen: Diversity and History
by Prof. David Stack One of the skills required of any good historian is the ability to listen. For those working on oral history projects that means quite literally hearing their subjects speak. For the rest of us it is… Continue reading
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Material Histories: History MA projects with the Museum of English Rural Life
As part of our MA in History, our postgraduate students work with the curators and collections of the Museum of English Rural Life to learn about the history of material culture, and the various ways in which historians can use… Continue reading
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