History News

We are delighted to share that People without History are Dust, the new book by Dr Anna Hájková, Reader in Modern European Continental History, has been shortlisted for the National Jewish Book Award. The book is the first to examine queer Holocaust history, exploring same-sex desire and gender variance during the Shoah.

The National Jewish Book Awards are North America’s longest-running programme recognising outstanding work on Jewish history, culture, and ideas.

Find a full list of shortlisted titles and more about the awards on the Jewish Book Council website.

In the footsteps of Marco Polo. Venice, Asia, silk is the new book release from Professor Luca Mola, Professor of History, published by Laterza.

Marco Polo's fame is linked to his travel experiences in the East and the description of Chinese civilization contained in Il Milione, a source of wonder throughout Europe. But what did he do after his return to Venice in 1295? This book reveals the truth using a series of new, previously unknown documents and reconstructs his story.

Professor Mola tells an untold story that portrays Marco Polo as a key figure in the economic development of Venice and Italy, capable of capitalizing on the knowledge he acquired on his travels.

Uncover Warwickshire’s hidden histories. Join Harry McNeile and the team as they explore seven iconic locations—from Warwick Castle to Bosworth—revealing stories of legend, conflict, the occult, and post-Blitz regeneration.

People without History Are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust is the new book by Dr Anna Hájková, Reader of modern European continental history, translated by William Ross Jones and published by University of Toronto Press. It is the first book to explore queer Holocaust history, that is, same sex desire and gender variance in the Shoah.

Queerness remains one of the most stigmatized and overlooked aspects of Holocaust history, often erased due to the lingering homophobia of survivors. People Without History Are Dust challenges this silence, weaving together compelling stories of German, Dutch, Czech, and Polish Jewish Holocaust victims and survivors – including Anne Frank, Molly Applebaum, Margot Heuman, and Gad Beck – whose experiences help illuminate the hidden history of queerness in a time of genocide.

Drawing on extensive archival research, this ground breaking book uncovers the lives of those who were doubly marginalized, not only persecuted as Jews but also as queer individuals. In doing so, it confronts the ways in which history has excluded or minimized their experiences, urging us to question normative accounts of the Holocaust.

By shedding light on these long-overlooked stories, People Without History Are Dust deepens our understanding of identity, survival, and memory, reminding us why an inclusive and complex approach to history is essential – not just for the sake of the past, but in service to the present and the future as well.

For more information and to pre-order the book from the UK in paperback or hardcover visit the MNG website. 

Calls are now open for the Early Career Fellowships scheme from the Leverhulme Trust for 2026 entry.

Prospective candidates are asked to submit the following information to artsprojsupport@warwick.ac.uk by the internal deadline of 5.00pm on Friday 21 November 2025:

• A short description of their proposed project (maximum 2 A4 pages)
• A copy of their CV (maximum 2 A4 pages)
• The names of three referees. Please note that referees will not be asked to provide a statement at this stage

Eligibility criteria are as follows. Candidates must:

• hold a doctoral degree by the time they take up the Fellowship. If currently registered for a doctorate, they must have submitted their thesis by 4pm on 19 February 2026
• not yet have held a permanent academic appointment, although the Trust will consider applications from candidates with permanent posts that do not include any research
• not have held or currently hold a comparable funded post-doctoral position of three years’ duration or longer to pursue their own research
• not currently hold or have held postdoctoral positions to pursue their own independent research totalling 3 or more years
• have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination no more than four years prior to the closing date. Those who submitted their thesis earlier than 19 February 2022 are not eligible to apply, unless they have since had a career break
• either hold a degree from a UK higher education institution at the time of taking up the Fellowship or at the time of the application deadline hold a non-permanent academic position in the UK (e.g. fixed-term lectureship, fellowship) which commenced no less than 4 months prior to 19 February 2026

Diversity in STEM is a set of GCSE Biology, Chemistry, and Physics resources that are designed to fit into existing lessons. 

All the resources are curriculum-aligned and provide a simple, effective, and engaging way to highlight diversity in the STEM classroom. 

There is an interactive website—Diversity in STEM: The Challenge—to get started: Diversity in STEM: The Challenge Interactive Website 

As well as downloadable slides and lesson plans from both the website and the TES teachers’ resource portal: Diversity in STEM Slides and Lesson Plans 

All resources are free to download, use and adapt.  

They were developed by Dr James Poskett at the University of Warwick with funding from the History Department and the British Academy.

We are pleased to announce that two of our recently graduated students have won prizes from British American Nineteenth Century Historians (BrANCH) this year. They are:

Isa Seedat – Isa won the Kinder Fellowship at Missouri - https://www.branch.org.uk/kinderbranchfellowship . This is the third time in recent years our students have been awarded the scholarship.

Emmanuel-Jeremiah Abass – ‘Highly Commended’ for the Harriet Tubman Essay prize - https://www.branch.org.uk/tubmanessayprize

Congratulations to Isa and Emmanuel-Jeremiah.

We are pleased to announce that Dr Doina Anca Cretu, Assistant Professor in Modern European History, has been awarded the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant to work on her second project "Central Europe and the Making of the Modern Refugee Camp."

Dr Cretu will carry out archival work in Prague, Vienna, Krakow, and Warsaw.