Latest Posts
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British People Month – What Chartism Means to Me, by Prof David Stack
As part of our Chartism Week series, the Department’s Professor David Stack reflects on the place of Chartism in his development as a historian. What Chartism means to me I first encountered Chartism as a teenager, when I took a… Continue reading
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British People Month – Chartism Essentials, by Prof David Stack
Next week, in the run-up to Chartism Day 2023, the History Department at Reading will be celebrating all things Chartist. Here, to get Chartist Week underway, and to fill in any gaps in your knowledge, the Department’s very own Professor… Continue reading
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British People Month – The Changing Place of the Countryside in Modern British Life, by Dr Jeremy Burchardt
The way historians think and write about the countryside has changed dramatically over the last few decades. Until the 1980s, most British historians regarded the economic history of farming as by far the most important aspect of the history of… Continue reading
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‘What manner of creature is it in the semblance of man?’: Count Dracula and ChatGPT, by Dr Dan Renshaw
At the end of the nineteenth century human society seemed to be on the brink of profound behavioural change spurred on by advances in technology. Over the previous fifty years innovations had occurred in communications, in transport, and, less benignly,… Continue reading
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Into the Archives: Berkshire Records Office, by Graham Moore
When thinking about undertaking archival research, it can be easy to reach automatically for the big national institutions. But there is more to life than the British Library or The National Archives; sometimes, history can be a little closer to… Continue reading
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Into the Archives: A Day in the Life of a Volunteer at The National Archives, by Christos Giannatos
As a Postgraduate Researcher, I was pretty excited to work with primary material and uncover the many secrets they hold, but also, use those secrets to enrich my research! From a young age, I was watching documentaries where archivists and… Continue reading
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Into the Archives: Listening to the Voice in the Archive, by Dr Beth Wilson
In April 2023, I travelled to Indiana University Bloomington to spend two weeks in the archives. I was funded by the Institute for Advanced Studies at Indiana University to undertake a Repository Research Fellowship at the Archives of Traditional Music… Continue reading
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Into the Archives: South Carolina, by Prof Emily West
In April 2023 I visited South Carolina to undertake archival research. This trip would not have been possible without a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grant, and I am grateful to them for funding this trip. I first visited South Carolina during… Continue reading
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#EurovisionRdgHis nominations 2023
Throughout the month run-up to the Eurovision 2023 final, held in Liverpool, the History Department has been sharing its favourite Eurovision entries of the past. All those who were nominated, along with their reason for nomination are below. 1967: Sandie… Continue reading
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The United Kingdom and Eurovision: A History of Ambivalence?, by Dr Ben Bland
It’s perhaps an understatement to say that the United Kingdom has a slightly more complex relationship with the Eurovision Song Contest than many of the other competitor nations. The UK is one of the so-called “Big Five”: the five countries… Continue reading
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