Opinion Articles
H&P encourages historians to use their expertise to shed light on issues of the day. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece for publication, please see our editorial guidelines. We currently have 342 Opinion Articles listed by date and they are all freely searchable by theme, author or keyword.
Winston Churchill: still newsworthy after all these years
The 50th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s death and funeral has put him in the news again. This mass of coverage reminds us that before he made history, Churchill made news, writes Professor Richard Toye, of Exeter University, who explores his journalism in an age when the media was undergoing a revolution.
Read MoreTeaching fathers to be ‘involved’
A new scheme to encourage fathers to become more 'involved' with their children is not new, relies on misplaced notions of a 'golden age' of stable, nuclear families, and the 'feckless' father stereotype, argue Dr Laura King and Dr Julie-Marie Strange.
Read MoreThe poor still can’t cook
Initial responses to the recent All-Party Parliamentary report, Feeding Britain, reveal that the poorest in society face similar economic difficulties – and attitudes – to those found a century ago. Jennifer Doyle explores public debates about food and women during the First World War.
Read MoreThe legacy of GP attitudes to mentally ill older people
Historical evidence of doctors’ attitudes towards mentally ill older patients may help explain the current initiative to pay GPs for diagnosing dementia. The evidence also suggests alternative policies that would assist doctors and ultimately improve quality of life for patients, argues Dr Claire Hilton.
Read MoreHistory and future of British trade identities
Dr David Thackeray, of Exeter University, argues that the history of British trade offers important insights for policy makers about major political issues today, from devolution and EU membership, to relations between Commonwealth nations and the growing role of ‘soft power.’
Read MoreThe marrying kind? Marriage, freedom and the state in modern Britain
Love can bloom in myriad forms in 21st century Britain. In 2014 same-sex marriage was legalised and forced marriage criminalised. Is freedom of choice in marriage the touchstone of a tolerant society? Dr Julia Moses, of Sheffield University, explores the complex and often conflicting relationship between individual freedoms and state regulation of the family, revealing changing ideas and rules about marriage in Britain since the 16th century.
Read MoreCould imperial history help US foreign policy makers?
As the UK considers joining America in bombing the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, Dr Marc-William Palen considers the light early-twentieth century theorists can throw on today’s state-sponsored militarism, democratic and despotic alike.
Read MoreThe imperial legacy of the Scottish independence referendum
If the British Empire still existed, there would be no talk of Scottish independence, argues Dr Bryan Glass, of Texas State University, who examines the imperial legacy of today’s referendum.
Read MoreThe Health and Safety at Work Act, 40 years on
History shows that hackneyed rhetoric about 'health and safety gone mad' fails to understand the benefits of the 1974 Act, which has saved untold numbers of lives since it was passed 40 years ago this week. Dr Mike Esbester of Portsmouth University investigates.
Read More‘From magic sponge to magic spray’: football and sports medicine
In the wake of the 2014 World Cup, Dr Neil Carter, of De Montfort University, examines the historical developments underpinning the relationship between sport, particularly football, and medicine.
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