On History
News, articles & research from the
Institute of Historical Research
Latest posts
Using the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) as a PhD research tool – Phil Winterbottom
In this blog, PhD student Phil Winterbottom reflects on the ways in which he has used BBIH as a tool to help him develop his historiographical knowledge and keep up to date with the latest research in his field. When I began my PhD research in 2020 I had not...
Glimpses of a Transnational Life: Frank Mathew and Imports of Everyday Goods in Fifteenth Century London.
The IHR’s Centre for the History of People, Place and Community has been carrying out some exploratory research on the potential of analysing London’s medieval customs accounts digitally. Detailed, or ‘particular’ customs accounts recorded immense detail...
Bibliography of British and Irish History February 2024 update
What’s new in BBIH? The February 2024 update to the Bibliography of British and Irish History adds 4,115 new publications. The new update includes books, journal articles, book chapters, and edited collections covering all areas of British and Irish history,...
Spotlight
Conflict and climate change in the Arctic: what the seventeenth century suggests about the future
By Dagomar Degroot Environment & History, essay no. 13 In the final article of our ‘Environment & History’ series, Professor Dagomar Degroot looks to early modern climate change to ask whether arctic warming necessarily results in violent...
Features & Articles
Pre-Raphaelite Outsider: James Smetham (1821-1889)
Since 2019 a team of archivists, creative practitioners, curators, and researchers have been exploring the life and work of the little-known artist and devout Methodist James Smetham. In this blog post, Dr Ruth Slatter (IHR Lecturer in Historic Environment and...
IHR Summer Reading Series
Volume 6 During the month of August we will be sharing summer reading lists, experiences, and suggestions from the IHR community. If you’d like to share your own, please Tweet (X) us @ihr_history. In this blog, we hear from IHR Fellows. Philippa Joseph Although most...
IHR Summer Reading Series
Volume 5 During the month of August we will be sharing summer reading lists, experiences, and suggestions from the IHR community. If you'd like to share your own, please Tweet (X) us @ihr_history. In this blog, we hear from Neil Stewart, Head of the IHR Library. Willa...
IHR Summer Reading Series
Volume 4 During the month of August we will be sharing summer reading lists, experiences, and suggestions from the IHR community. If you'd like to share your own, please Tweet (X) us @ihr_history. Daniel Snowman has been a Senior Research Fellow at the IHR since...
Publications News
Victoria County History Smartphone App: Retirement
In early 2020 we launched our VCH smartphone app, ‘A History of English Places’. It had been developed through a project funded internally by the University of London in 2014, and was produced in partnership with Aimer Media. In 2023, Aimer Media was bought up by...
Uncovering Hidden Labour in the Victoria County History (VCH) Archive
In this blog post Adam Chapman (VCH General Editor) and Ruth Slatter (VCH Architectural Editor) explore the VCH Westmorland archive and reflect on how it helps uncover the hidden (and often forgotten) labour of researchers who contributed to the production of early...
VCH Outstanding Contribution Awards 2023
Earlier this year we were delighted to make our second annual round of VCH Outstanding Contribution Awards, nominated by the VCH community. We would like to thank everyone who submitted a nomination. These aren’t long service awards—though some of the recipients have...
Bringing the VCH Past to Wikipedia Present
In this blog, VCH General Editor, Adam Chapman and IHR Collections Librarian, Michael Townsend, introduce the VCH Archive and how it is being used to broaden other projects (including Wikipedia). As you might imagine, like any 123-year-old organisation, The...
Research & Resources News
Using the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) as a PhD research tool – Phil Winterbottom
In this blog, PhD student Phil Winterbottom reflects on the ways in which he has used BBIH as a tool to help him develop his historiographical knowledge and keep up to date with the latest research in his field. When I began my PhD research in 2020 I had not...
Bibliography of British and Irish History February 2024 update
What’s new in BBIH? The February 2024 update to the Bibliography of British and Irish History adds 4,115 new publications. The new update includes books, journal articles, book chapters, and edited collections covering all areas of British and Irish history,...
Building a Non-State Archive
Activist, social, political, and insurgent movements are non-state actors who lack a state archive. Their networked activities craft a non-state archive, made up of their personal papers, films, and oral histories as well as those of the entities who interacted with...
Emotional History and the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH)
This blog post was written by Claire Langhamer, Director of the IHR. One of the most striking trends within recent historical research has been the ascendancy of the history of emotion, encouraged in no small part by the critical mass generated by specialist...