Who controls the past? Herbert Butterfield and official history, then and now

Dec 1, 2021

Ahead of his new book The Control of the Past: Herbert Butterfield and the Pitfalls of Official History, senior Whitehall historian Patrick Salmon talks us through the dangers of government-mandated history and asks- can history ever be truly objective? ‘I do not...

Environmental history: an online reading list for History Day, 4 November 2021

Nov 1, 2021

The Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) provides records of over 627,600 publications (books, journal articles, and chapters in edited collections) relating to British and Irish history. The Bibliography defines British and Irish history very broadly, and...

Elizabethan Witchcraft, Sorcery, and a Very Troubled Marriage

Sep 30, 2021

Ahead of their new book ‘Star Chamber Matters’, Professor K. J. Kesselring (Dalhousie) dives into some of Star Chamber’s most riveting cases including this article on, marriage, ‘male witches’ and a grieving house-wife. An extraordinary court that ruled...

IHR Centenary Global Birthday Event: Reflections on History Past, Present and Future

Jul 15, 2021

On Thursday 8 July 2021, the IHR celebrated its 100th birthday, with a day of online celebrations taking us from Australia and South East Asia, to Africa and the Middle East, to Europe and North America. What did we learn about history today and in the future? The...

Christmas Under Cromwell: The Hidden Religious Festivals of Interregnum Britain

Jul 13, 2021

In this post Dr Rosalind Johnson introduces her chapter in Church and People in Interregnum Britain, published by University of London Press on 23 June. Edited by Dr Fiona McCall, the book provides a comprehensive account of every-day life, society and religion in the...

The IHR’s Reviews in History

Jun 17, 2021

The IHR’s Reviews in History publishes weekly commentaries on new books. Our reviews are longer than those in many academic journals and focus on titles published in the last year. ‘Reviews’ will be taking a break during July and the first half of August, but look...