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.
History 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.
Read MoreHow did he get away with so much for so long? The press and Jimmy Savile
It's not only the NHS and BBC that can learn lessons from the Savile investigations. Dr Adrian Bingham, of Sheffield University, argues in an new opinion piece co-published with Opendemocracy that press culture at the time contributed to Savile's ability to abuse.
Read MoreThe UK khat ban: ‘protecting vulnerable communities’?
As khat is banned in the UK today, Dr Luke Gibbon, of Strathclyde University, considers past prohibitions of the herbal stimulant in colonial Aden and Kenya – which had unintended negative consequences and ended in failure.
Read MoreRegulating housing: neither new nor radical
Instead of lambasting Labour's proposed reforms to the private rental housing sector, critics should look to the past to understand why regulation is needed, argues Phil Child of Exeter University.
Read MoreMilitary working dogs, past, present and future
They were messengers in the First World War, jumped over Normandy on D Day and detected mines in Afghanistan and Iraq. Military working dogs have played a key role in conflicts and been decorated for their service in the British Armed Forces. As Kim Brice of King's College London explains, they are likely to remain a mainstay.
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