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.
Political posters in history
Why does a huge image of David Cameron dominate the Conservative's new election poster? Is it because, with his shirt-unbuttoned, this Man of Action is telling us that he personally will crack the deficit problem? Or is this just another example of Cameron aping the former Labour leader Tony Blair, another instance in which he […]
Read MoreSlavery and climate change: lessons to be learned
In a recent interview with the Guardian, James Hansen, one of the world's best-known climate scientist suggested that it would be better for the planet and for future generations if the Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse, rather than a flawed deal. Hansen claimed that dealing with climate change, 'is analogous to the issue […]
Read More‘Hijacking’ history
'Given that the Second World War was fuelled by the need to disarm oppressive and racist regimes, is it fair that the BNP has hijacked Churchill as its own?' Such was the first question posed to the panellists gathered for the BBC's Question Time transmitted on the 22 October 2009. Because of the furore caused […]
Read MoreMore sex, lies and trafficking
The Guardian's headline of 20 October 2009 announcing that the UK's 'Biggest Sex slavery inquiry failed to net single trafficker' was certainly designed to surprise if not shock the paper's readership. Journalist Nick Davies argues that there is something familiar in the 'sexing up' (to excuse the pun) of the evidence on sex trafficking and […]
Read MoreHistorians respond to the Queen’s speech
Historian and former civil servant Geoffrey Rivett welcomes moves to create a National Care Service, but warns that today's proposals could be 'robbing Peter to pay Paul': “When the NHS started, vast numbers of old people, sick and demented, were cared for in the back wards of the old poor law hospitals. Few doctors were […]
Read More1989: Divided memories, East and West
On 9th November 2009, the world was treated to a recreation of the moment that has come to symbolise the end of Communism and the Cold War: the destruction of the Berlin Wall. On the 20th anniversary of its breach, world leaders arrived in the city and witnessed the toppling of 1,000 foam domino tiles […]
Read MorePinstriped fascism
Those seeking to expose British National Party leader Nick Griffin as a British Nazi on the BBC's Question Time programme last month will have been disappointed. The charge of German Nazism was a red herring, which Griffin managed to evade with claims about his father's role in the Second World War. Meanwhile, Griffin's fascism went […]
Read MoreThe case for historical advisers in government
The Sorbonne-educated Israeli historian, Professor Michael Harsegor, has often suggested, in his programme on Galei Tzaal Radio, that every president or prime minister should have a historian serving as personal adviser. He argues that the whole decision-making process would benefit considerably as many mistakes in modern history could have been avoided had a historian been […]
Read MoreBroadband Terrorism: A new face of fascism
The sentencing of the aspiring far-right bomber Neil Lewington to at least six years in prison serves as a wake-up call. Although neo-fascism has followed the web into the 21st century, policies to counteract it remain stuck in the 20th. Indeed, Lewington's case illustrates just how far the far-right has moved. Not in terms of […]
Read MoreAre school standards slipping?
Conservative spokesman on schools Michael Gove plans to publish past exam papers going back to the Victorian era online, to allow parents to decide for themselves whether school standards are slipping, a concern that has become widespread in recent years. Mr. Gove said recently; “People know there is something wrong with our education system and […]
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