The Cold War: Introduction

The Cold War was the most important political and diplomatic issue of the early postwar period. The main Cold War enemies were the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold war got its name because both sides were afraid of fighting each other directly. In such a “hot war,” nuclear weapons might destroy everything. [...]

The Bitchiness of Historians (The Case of Herodotus)

Historians have always been bitchy towards one another. It just seems to go with the territory. They are touchy, quick to take offence, or apt to chuck cold water, wet blankets and trenchant abuse on one another in ample doses. Of course, some do operate under that wise axiom: “Rubbish not, lest thou be rubbished” [...]

From Gibbon to Goebbels? The Historians’ Trajectory

Gibbon and Goebbels are not the obvious choices for comparison to Herodotus and Thucydides, but bear with me. H & T are frequently regarded as the “first historians.” They wrote the book, you might say, on how to do history. At least, Herodotus was the first writer whose name and work survive. And yet: have [...]

Teaching History

Great post from James Daley about the way we teach History at school in the UK. The amount of people who’ve said to me “This is so interesting, but I had a really boring teacher at school. Put me off for life.” The point being, as Anne of Green Gables was always saying, that the [...]

Historians are seedy and horrible, says Terry Deary

Article by Sarah Ebner He owes his success to history, but the author Terry Deary has described historians as “seedy and devious”. From The Times May 31, 2010