No tracking. No cookies
Subscriptions
SubscriptionsCategory: History
-
Lessons from Fire: What Hiroshima, Tariffs and Japan’s Rising Far Right Have in Common
On the 80th Anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and as Japan’s far-right surges, author Iain MacGregor reflects on what Japan must never forget
-
Lucy Connolly, Bob Vylan and the False Claims of a ‘Two Tier Justice System’
Attempts to claim that the treatment of Lucy Connolly and Bob Vylan in any way demonstrate a “two tier” justice system are completely wide of the mark, argues barrister Gareth Roberts
-
‘Nine Years on from Brexit: And I’ve Had Enough of London Too!’
Inspired by the insights of Matthew Goodwin and David Goodhart, Professor Ivor Oddgrin documents the terrifying change that is happening before our eyes
-
‘BP’s Cynical Greenwashing Sponsorship Tactics Over British Cultural Institutions Has Now Been Exposed’
These internal memos reveal how fossil fuel companies use cultural sponsorship as a means of cultural and political control, argues Juliette Daigre
-
The Upside Down: Death Metal
In his monthly column, John Mitchinson explores how the long slow history of lead poisoning teaches us a salutary lesson
-
The Upside Down: For Whom the Bell Tolls
John Mitchinson explores the strangely complex method behind the music of the bells
-
The Death of the Critic: From Cultural Visionaries to Vacuous Performers
Critics must reclaim their roles as navigators of meaning – not algorithmically-rewarded pastiche provocateurs, writes Iain Overton
-
The Upside Down: The War We Never Mention
In his monthly column, John Mitchinson explores how a country house party in Oxfordshire helped invent democracy
-
Genocide: An Idea for our Times
After 80 years, Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin’s idea is more relevant than ever
-
Why Some Labour MPs Fear a Kemi Badenoch led Conservative Party
The Conservative Party’s new leader has the potential to do a lot of damage, whether or not she wins the next general election
-
‘The Higher Education Act is a Culture War Tactic Designed by Right-Wingers to Ensure Their Views are Heard’
‘It is difficult not to regard the Act as a classic piece of doublethink designed to censor freedom of expression in the guise of protecting it’
-
Conservative Frontrunner Robert Jenrick Plans to ‘Win a Culture War’ with Young People
The favourite to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative party leader plans to launch an “air war” with younger voters
-
The Upside Down: Jeremy Bentham – Auto-Icon for the People
In his monthly column, John Mitchinson remembers the original social justice warrior
-
The Unpopular ‘Popular Conservatives’ Blame the Voters for Their Own Defeat
The ‘Popular Conservatism’ Conference exposed a party firmly stuck in conspiracy-driven denial about why it just suffered the worst electoral defeat in its history
-
The Upside Down: ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’
John Mitchinson explores how a 600-year-old poem by an unknown poet can reset our moral compass
-
‘We Need to Have New Conversations About the Colonial Realities of Our Rural Past’
‘Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain’ reveals fascinating connections between colonial history and British rural life – but it isn’t expected to go down well with everyone
-
The Upside Down: That’s The Way to Do It!
John Mitchinson explores why are we so fascinated by the odious, uncancellable, Mr Punch
-
The Upside Down: History Is More than Its Set Pieces
John Mitchinson explores how the lessons of the Crimean War still resonate today
-
Music in Schools: A Plea
In the wake of Lord Melvyn Bragg’s House of Lords debate on the vital importance of the arts to the UK’s society and economy, composer Howard Goodall makes an urgent call for the Government to rethink its proposed further reduction of resources for musical education
-
‘To Restore Trust, Rip Up the Astroturf’
As fake grassroots organisations continue their culture war – we need to fight back, writes Otto English
-
Rishi Sunak Stumbles as he Takes the Knee to the Culture Warriors
The Prime Minister’s attempts to wage a culture war with Keir Starmer have ended up doing far more damage to himself than the Labour Leader
-
The Palestinians and Israel: A Modern Day ‘Trail of Tears’
The treatment of Native Americans more than 100 years ago cannot provide an exact comparison to the situation of Palestinians today – but there are striking similarities, writes Alexandra Hall Hall
-
Cultural Famine: Austerity in the UK’s Heritage Sector Cuts Deep
Museums across the country are being forced to close as the reality of austerity-struck Brexit Britain hits home
-
‘A Disunited Kingdom? For Younger Minorities, Britishness is an Identity We Can Work With – A Quest for Englishness Must Confront This’
Developing a stronger sense of Englishness cannot merely be looked at through a political lens – our identities are personal and multiple, conflicting and shifting, writes Hardeep Matharu
-
‘A Disunited Kingdom? Britain is Built on Forgetting Our Imperial History’
Maintaining the illusory story of what Britain was is integral to the illusion of what Britain is – and the maintenance of political and economic hegemony, writes MP Clive Lewis
-
‘Those Who Enjoyed the Post-1945 Social Progress of the West Were Made Complacent By It: We Forgot Its Price is Vigilance’
AC Grayling explores the factors that have driven the rise of ‘illiberal democracy’
-
A Message to White Environmentalists: Demanding a Fossil Fuel Phase Out is Not Enough
The poverty blindness of too many climate activists overlooks the huge complexities facing the world’s poorest
-
The Upside Down: Saint Cuthbert – Wonder Worker
John Mitchinson reflects on why the life of Saint Cuthbert still has important things to teach us
-
‘Suella Braverman’s “Hate March” Rhetoric is Another Desperate Attempt to Hold onto State Power’
The crafting of ‘ceasefire’ marches as a transgression of Remembrance Sunday looks like a throwback to a top-down colonial mindset, argues Suriyah Bi
-
The British Museum Begs for Help Over 2,000 Lost Treasures – Why Did They Ignore Public Concerns in the Past?
A year ago the British Museum only reported on theft from its collection. Why has it taken so long for news of thousands of missing, stolen or damaged artefacts to emerge?
-
Just Another ‘C’ Word? The Weird, Wonderful and Worrisome History of Cripple
Penny Pepper explores how she encourages disabled people to reclaim labels – to twist and refute them
-
‘Half Measures Will Not Decolonise International Development’
Genuine anti-racist internationalism calls for much greater radicalism, writes Sunit Bagree
-
‘From Uganda to Rwanda: The British Political Class’ Ever-Present Hostility to ‘Aliens’’
Jon Bloomfield examines the similarities between the 1905 Aliens Bill and the current Illegal Migration Bill and inflammatory rhetoric around refugees
-
The Upside Down: Homo Loquens – Why We Learned to Talk
It’s not hard to see how the evolution of cooperation and the evolution of language are mutually reinforcing, writes John Mitchinson
-
ECHR: The Peace Machine
Seventy-five years ago, Nuremberg prosecutor David Maxwell Fyfe – an artisan of the European Convention on Human Rights – spoke in Brussels of his fear that the high ideals of the victors would be forgotten. His grandson explores why his legacy matters now more than ever
-
Labour Lessons: Preparing for Power
Former Labour MP Ian Lucas explores what Keir Starmer can learn from the three most historic Labour victories in modern British politics
-
The Upside Down: Why the Tuskegee Experiment Still Resonates
John Mitchinson explores the lasting impact of a controversial American study steeped in the institutional racism which continues to permeate the country today
-
Undocumented Immigration: Two Very Different Approaches
Brian Latham looks at the very different attitudes to migration in Southern Africa compared to the UK
-
The Upside Down: Why Folk Songs Still Mean Something
The longer we look at this traditional music, the more we see that its very malleability is its strength and its challenge, writes John Mitchinson
-
2022: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
in his editorial from the December print edition of Byline Times Peter Jukes says the tumultuous events of the last year may have been shocking, but not a complete surprise
-
The White Knuckle Ride of 2022
From Partygate to Trussomics, the death of the Monarch, and the humiliation of Vladimir Putin, OttoEnglish’s review of the year takes us on a roller coaster of major fails and meteoric falls
-
In Neo-Dickensian Britain Politicians Should Heed the Ghost of Marley
There’s a reason Dickens’ Christmas Carol is a perennial festive favourite, says A V Deggar – the Malthusian ideas of Scrooge are still with us
