On History
News, articles & research from the
Institute of Historical Research
Latest posts
One month to go: Discover History Day 2026 ‘Grassroots History, Grassroots Collections’
This post was written by Lucy Baker, Graduate Trainee Library Assistant at the Institute of Historical Research. There is just one month to go until History Day 2026, showcasing the lives and voices of ordinary people through the theme of ‘Grassroots History.’ We are...
Bibliography of British and Irish History October 2026 update
What’s new in BBIH? The October 2026 update to the Bibliography of British and Irish History adds 4,035 new publications. The new update includes books, journal articles, book chapters from edited collections and history theses covering all areas of British and...
Updates from the Victoria County History’s Five New Projects
This blog post was written by Dr Ruth Slatter and Dr Adam Chapman, Co-General Editors of the VCH. Following the announcement of four new VCH projects in 2025, in this blog post Ruth Slatter and Adam Chapman (Co-General Editors of the VCH) share...
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
One month to go: Discover History Day 2026 ‘Grassroots History, Grassroots Collections’
This post was written by Lucy Baker, Graduate Trainee Library Assistant at the Institute of Historical Research. There is just one month to go until History Day 2026, showcasing the lives and voices of ordinary people through the theme of ‘Grassroots History.’ We are...
Michaelmas
This blog post was written by IHR Associate Fellow Michael Carter. St Michael’s Day—Michaelmas—on 29 September is upon us. St Michael is one of the most interesting of all saints, or to go medieval ‘the holy company of heaven’ (ok, I might be biased, I’m named after...
Five things that I’ve learned writing my first trade history book
This blog post was written by IHR Fellow Edward Armston-Sheret. I’ve recently published my first trade history book, The Grip of the Ice: Scott, Shackleton and Survival on the Frozen Frontier. The book tells the story of the British National Antarctic Expedition –...
The Cambridge Prehistory of Partitions: Learning through a Cambridge Walk and Podcast
Cambridge is a city of quiet quadrangles and soft light, designed for the unhurried pursuit of knowledge, polite debates over High Table, the preservation of tradition, and the education of the country’s youthful elites. Yet between the cobblestones of Trinity Street...
Publications News
John Aubrey and the Victoria County History: Parallel Endeavours in Systematic Local History
In this blog post, Dr Louise Ryland-Epton describes the gestation of the latest Victoria County History (VCH), publications for Wiltshire, which focus on Chippenham and its neighbourhood. In looking at how this work was informed by earlier scholarship—notably that of...
Soho at Noon: Satire, Stratification, and Urbanisation in William Hogarth’s London
Daisy Mansfield is a volunteer with Victoria County History (VCH) London, focusing on artists in Soho. In this blog, she discusses what we can learn about Soho in the eighteenth century from the work of the renowned artist and chronicler of London life, William...
The Value of Encouraging Neurodivergent Participation in Community Research Initiatives for the Victoria County History of England
This blog post was written by Dr Christopher Tinmouth, Victoria County History (VCH) Cumbria Participatory Research Officer Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway, photo by Christopher Tinmouth Autistic representation in academia, and in community participation in research...
Domesday at the IHR
In this blog, IHR Fellow Chris Lewis writes about a new publication Domesday Book is justly famous as England’s oldest public record, the source of a teeming mass of information about every aspect of English government and society around the time of the Norman...
Research & Resources News
Bibliography of British and Irish History October 2026 update
What’s new in BBIH? The October 2026 update to the Bibliography of British and Irish History adds 4,035 new publications. The new update includes books, journal articles, book chapters from edited collections and history theses covering all areas of British and...
Pathways, Environmental History, and BBIH
Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) Intern in Environmental Histories Zoë Jackson uses two petitions as a starting point to reflect on environmental history as a field, and the usefulness of BBIH to this research. Petitions and...
Bibliography of British and Irish History June 2026 update
What’s new in BBIH? The June 2026 update to the Bibliography of British and Irish History adds 3678 new publications. The new update includes books, journal articles, book chapters from edited...
Researching the Histories of Medicine and Health in the Bibliography of British and Irish History
In this blog post, Rachel Peacock (Queen’s University, Canada) and Jenny Lelkes-Rarugal (BBIH editor) discuss how the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) can be used to research and teach the histories of medicine and...