Latest Posts
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Pirate Legends Resurfaced: The Golden Age of Videogame Pirates, by Luke Walters
It has been said that “dead men tell no tales”, though if one looks at the wider history of the so-called Golden Age of Piracy and how it has affected our perception of maritime predation, this is evidently not the… Continue reading
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14 July 1789: The storming of the Bastille and the birth of the people of Paris as political force, by Prof Joël Félix
The storming of the Bastille was one of a series of unexpected events that led to the downfall of the Old Regime in France between May and August 1789. News from Versailles of popular minister Jacques Necker sacking had caused… Continue reading
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Dead Men Film No Reels: A Short History of Pirate Films, by Dr Richard Blakemore
When I began to teach a module on the history of piracy in 2017, I shamelessly called it ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ to piggyback on the global film franchise, though with the subtitle ‘Empire, Slavery, and Society, 1550-1750’ to show… Continue reading
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History Department’s Favourite Pirate Films – July 2023
To start us off on our Pirates of the Caribbean 20th anniversary month, the pirate specialists in the History Department here at the University of Reading have nominated their favourite pirate films of all time)… Luke Walters – Treasure Island… Continue reading
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British People Month: Caribbean Faith and British Churches 1948-1981, by Dr Dan Renshaw
The arrival of HMT Empire Windrush into Tilbury docks on 22 June 1948 is now recognised as a key moment in the history of post-war Britain. Caribbean communities had settled in British cities and towns prior to the late 1940s,… Continue reading
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British People Month: Justin Fashanu: ‘Oh, what a goal, oh that’s a magnificent goal’, by Prof Matt Worley
It’s not often you get to say ‘I was there’, but … I was there. On 9 February 1980, I was 9 years-old and saw this: Justin Fashanu, just beginning to gain a reputation as a foremost talent in English… Continue reading
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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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