Past Lectures & Visits

Professor Anne Curry, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Southampton, returns to the branch for the first time since 2006 when she compared Agincourt and Bosworth. On this visit she will address English views of Joan of Arc from the 15th to 21st centuries. Vice-President of the Royal Historical Society and formerly President of the Historical Association ...
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Giles Milton on the topic of his book Checkmate in Berlin. Mr. Milton is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a renowned author who specialises in narrative history. The Times described Milton as being able to “take an event from history and make it come alive”. His lecture will tell the story of the epic first clash of ...
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Annie Garthwaite. Author of the highly acclaimed historical novel CECILY. Hailed by some as the new Hilary Mantel. Cecily Neville, the 15th century's most powerful matriarch.   How to write a historical novel and how women exerted power and influence in the late Medieval period. Cecily-mother of two kings-Edward IV and Richard III, wife of the most powerful noble, as a ...
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Dr Elena Woodacre, Reader in Renaissance History, University of Winchester on Queens as co-rulers: Examining power sharing and ruling partnerships in the premodern world ...
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George Morton-Jack. The Indian Empire at War. The response to the publication of The Indian Army at War, a ground breaking account of the role of the Indian Army in World War 1, was almost universal acclaim. "Extraordinarily original" Max Hastings; "Superb Revelatory and written with brilliant verve” Andrew Roberts; “Fills a gap that should have been dealt with long ...
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Professor Michael Hicks, Professor Emeritus, University of Winchester. Richard III – The most Infamous King. After a lifetime of study Emeritus Professor Michael Hicks gives his interpretation of that most contested English monarch, Richard III ...
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Dr John McAleer, Associate Professor in History, University of Southampton. The East India Company: The corporation that changed the world. Dr McAleer’s work focuses on the British encounter and engagement with the wider world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, situating the history of empire in its global and maritime contexts. Although other nations had companies similar to the East ...
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Dr Helen Paul, Lecturer in Economics and Economic History, University of Southampton. The Myths of the South Sea Bubble. Dr Paul’s research covers a wide range of topics that center on the increased international maritime trade in the C17 & C18. The South Sea Bubble was a remarkable example of how fortunes could swell but how rapidly they could disappear ...
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Dr Katie Donington, Lecturer in History, London South Bank University. Britain and the Legacies of Slavery. Detailed studies have revealed just how extensive was the network that encompassed both colonial planters and English based financiers and investors in ‘slavery’. Dr. Dunnington's research analyses the role played by family in the establishment, maintenance, expansion and defense of Britain’s commercial interests in ...
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Professor Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, St Cross College, University of Oxford. From Conflict to Confucius: Why China's Ancient Philosopher is Shaping Today's Superpower. With the progress of China to superpower status, the Western world is struggling to understand this unique culture. What drives Chinese policy and what shapes its national self-image? Professor Mitter ...
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Professor Peter Mandler, Professor of Modern Cultural History, University of Cambridge. The Crisis of the Meritocracy: How Popular Demand (not Politicians) Made Britain into a Mass Education Society. In looking at a synopsis of Professor Mandler’s book two numbers stood out. The first surprised me-in 1938 only 1% of a cohort attended university. The second staggered me but I will ...
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