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.
Military 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.
Read MoreThe diplomatic glass ceiling
‘The introduction of a girl’, warned diplomat Ralph Stevenson in 1934, ‘would be a very disturbing factor and quite possibly impair the efficiency of the Chancery machine.’ Attitudes and rules have changed dramatically since the interwar years, but today women still fill only 25% of top posts in the British Diplomatic Service. Dr Helen McCarthy, of Queen Mary University of London, explores the legacy of a profession established in the nineteenth century for elite white men supported by uncomplaining spouses.
Read MoreThe highs and lows of drinking in Britain
Could the fall in serious violence announced recently be related to declining alcohol consumption in Britain since the mid-2000s? Dr James Nicholls considers changing drinking levels, licensing laws and social mores over 400 years to understand the complex effects on violence and health. In doing so, he punctures the myth of boozy Britain and binge drinkers.
Read MoreThe forgotten Benn
Professor Steven Fielding considers Benn's challenge to the Labour Party to respond to the transformations of the 1960s and galvanise a grassroots progressive politics.
Read MoreTony Benn and the radical socialist tradition
Jad Adams explores the radical socialist tradition in which Tony Benn was firmly rooted, while Professor Steven Fielding considers Benn's challenge to the Labour Party to respond to the transformations of the 1960s and galvanise a grassroots progressive politics.
Read MoreBob Crow: effective industrial leader, naive politician?
The puzzling aspect of Bob Crow's astute union leadership was his far less effective political career, argues Dr Jim Moher, of H&P's Trade Union Forum. In the wake of the RMT leader's premature death, Dr Moher examines his early political influences, the history of the union he led, and the missed opportunities of alienation from the Labour Party.
Read MoreVisiting the Pope the monarchs private visit
It would be easy to mistake the Queen’s forthcoming visit to the Pope as an event no more significant that the many other state visits that Elizabeth II undertakes as part of her duty. However, this could not be further from the truth: in many ways this is one of the most difficult visits for […]
Read MoreWar commemorations and politics: Lessons from the nineteenth century
Following comments made by Education Secretary Michael Gove, Dr Karine Varley looks at the differing ways in which historians and politicians treat war history.
Read MoreThe Conservatives and Europe: the long view
The Prime Minister's long awaited speech on Britain's relationship with the European Union acknowledges the importance of strategic cooperation with our continental neighbours and of the single market to the security and welfare of this country. Yet it implies that within five years the UK will have slid into a position whereby departure from the […]
Read More‘Children’ and the nanny state: shifting the boundaries of adolescence
Political parties on both the Left and Right are developing policies on jobs and benefits that would remove certain adult rights from the under 25s, building on a trend that has existed since adolescence was first defined in the nineteenth century. When Prime Minister David Cameron announced his plans to strip jobseekers' allowance and housing […]
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