On History
News, articles & research from the
Institute of Historical Research
Latest posts
Doing historical research in the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI): some points to consider
In every aspect of our lives, there are discussions happening about generative artificial intelligence, its benefits and its potential drawbacks. Undertaking historical research is no exception. It’s therefore important for historians to consider some of the following...
History of Science: Rethinking the Origins of Plate Tectonics
Many historians have thought that U.S. Navy funding of oceanography paved the way for plate tectonic theory. By funding extensive investigations of the deep ocean, Navy support enabled scientists to discover and understand sea-floor magnetic stripes, the...
Four New Victoria County History Projects
This blog post was written by Ruth Slatter and Adam Chapman, Co-General Editors of the VCH. The Victoria County History (VCH), is delighted to announce that its national network of place-based history is growing! 125 years after the VCH was founded, over the last few...
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
A Fanfare for Garden History
This blog post was written by Pippa Potts is a co-convenor of the History of Gardens and Landscapes Seminar. The idea had surfaced occasionally but, as so often, it took a nudge from elsewhere to make it a reality. The idea was that the excellent papers being given to...
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...
Publications News
Four New Victoria County History Projects
This blog post was written by Ruth Slatter and Adam Chapman, Co-General Editors of the VCH. The Victoria County History (VCH), is delighted to announce that its national network of place-based history is growing! 125 years after the VCH was founded, over the last few...
The collaborative and volunteer-led process of researching and writing the VCH short Southend, Victorian Town and Resort
In this blog post, Ken Crowe, Chairman of the Essex Victoria County History Trust and editor of the newest VCH Short ‘Southend, Victorian Town and Resort’, reflects on the collaborative volunteer-led process of researching and writing this book. How did it all...
Adulthood in Britain and the United States from 1350 to Generation Z
This post first appeared on the blog of the Royal Historical Society, a partner in the New Historical Perspectives publishing series. Adulthood has a history. In this post, Maria Cannon and Laura Tisdall introduce their new edited...
VCH Ghost Story
With the nights drawing in, it’s the season for storytelling. This curious and disconcerting letter was found recently in the archive of the Victoria County History of England (addressed to then-General Editor, William Page) and is published here for the first time....
Research & Resources News
Doing historical research in the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI): some points to consider
In every aspect of our lives, there are discussions happening about generative artificial intelligence, its benefits and its potential drawbacks. Undertaking historical research is no exception. It’s therefore important for historians to consider some of the following...
Emotion and Space in the Mid-Victorian Women’s Suffrage Movement in the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH)
Lucy McCormick recently completed a summer internship at the IHR, in which she focused on representations of social class in the Bibliography of British and Irish History. In this blog, she explores how anti-suffragists weaponised emotion in relation to politicised...
Using Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) Data to Stimulate Classroom Discussion: The Case of the Peasants’ Revolt
This blog post was written by BBIH user Gordon McKelvie. History lecturers need to see the BBIH as more than a convenient tool for updating reading lists. Using the example of revolts through English history, this blog uses BBIH to produce data that can frame...
Bibliography of British and Irish History October 2024 update
What’s new in BBIH? The October 2024 update to the Bibliography of British and Irish History adds 4,622 new publications. The new update includes books, journal articles, book chapters and edited collections covering all areas of British and Irish history, from...