Before Britain had declared its involvement in the First World War , Siegfried Loraine Sassoon had signed up. He would later allude to “serious aspirations to heroism” that took him from his life of a country gentleman in Kent – where he had been born on 8 September 1886, grownContinue Reading
20 May 1498 : Vasco da Gama lands in Calicut Portuguese explorer finds coveted trade route to India The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama had been at sea for almost a year when, peering through the haze, he glimpsed the buildings of Calicut. His mission was to find a trade routeContinue Reading
Charlotte Cooper-Davis delves into the life and legacy of Christine de Pizan, a late medieval writer who was actively involved in the production of her own works. Speaking with Emily Briffett, Charlotte explores Christine’s vast catalogue of written work and how she has since become seen as a feminist icon.Continue Reading
In the third episode of our podcast series on the end of Roman Britain, David Musgrove looks at how far Britain was a militarised state between the third and fifth centuries. Historian Dr Rob Collins explains how Roman Britain was set up to support the military machine of the widerContinue Reading
King John is generally remembered as the villain from the tales of Robin Hood, and the man who was forced to issue Magna Carta. But was he really as bad as legend would have us believe? And what was it about his reign that provoked his subjects to demand suchContinue Reading
Strikes have been a major, sometimes perilous tactic for workers as they’ve fought for better wages and working conditions. Since colonial times, when fishermen, bakers, refuse collectors and tailors tried to get more money or fairer treatment by refusing to perform their jobs, going on strike has been an importantContinue Reading
June 1785 in London was uncomfortably hot, relieved on the evening of Thursday 16th by a light breeze. Where Compton and Greek Streets met in Soho, shopkeepers were closing for the day, with residents propping open their windows and making ready for the night. In the second-floor front room atContinue Reading
When Korean American Chol Soo Lee was accused of murder in 1974, authorities misidentified him as Chinese American, and his case was marred by bias. In 1974, Chol Soo Lee, a Korean immigrant in his early 20s, was accused and wrongfully convicted of a gangland murder in San Francisco’s ChinatownContinue Reading
China was a vital, but often forgotten, member of the Allies battling Japan—two years before the official start of World War II. More than two years before German tanks blitzed Poland and four years before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, what some historians consider the start of World War IIContinue Reading
Journalist Philip Oltermann explores the unusual story of the poetry group run by the East German Ministry for State Security. Speaking to Rob Attar, he explains why the Stasi decided to employ rhyme and verse in their battle against capitalism. https://media.immediate.co.uk/volatile/sites/7/2022/05/Stasipoetry-085cdc2.mp3 Philip Oltermann is the author of The Stasi PoetryContinue Reading
