modern history
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
‘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
-
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



