History News

See the new video of staff and students describing the Warwick in Venice History Programme, one of the exciting opportunities available to single-honours history students at Warwick.

 
The Right to Dress: Sumptuary Laws in a Global Perspective, c.1200-1800, edited by Professor Giorgio Riello (University of Warwick) and Professor Ulinka Rublack (University of Cambridge), is a new edited volume published by Cambridge University Press.

This is the first global history of dress regulation and its place in broader debates around how human life and societies should be visualised and materialised. Sumptuary laws were a tool on the part of states to regulate not only manufacturing systems and moral economies via the medium of expenditure and consumption of clothing but also banquets, festivities and funerals. Leading scholars on Asian, Latin American, Ottoman and European history shed new light on how and why items of dress became key aspirational goods across society, how they were lobbied for and marketed, and whether or not sumptuary laws were implemented by cities, states and empires to restrict or channel trade and consumption. Their findings reveal the significance of sumptuary laws in medieval and early modern societies as a site of contestation between individuals and states and how dress as an expression of identity developed as a modern 'human right'.

Details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's current academic staff are available online, and the details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's emeritus academic staff are also available online.

 
Beyond the Barricades by Dr Anna Ross is an original study of government after the 1848 revolutions. It focuses on the state of Prussia, where a number of conservative ministers sought to learn lessons from their experiences of upheaval and introduce a wave of reform in the 1850s. Using extensive archival research, the work explores Prussia's entry into the constitutional age, charting initiatives to transform criminal justice, agriculture, industry, communications, urban life, and the press. Reform strengthened contact with the Prussian population, making this a classic episode of state-building, but Beyond the Barricades seeks to go further. It makes a case for taking notice of government activity at this particular juncture because the measures endorsed by conservative statesmen in the 1850s sought to remove the feudal intermediaries that had lingered long into the nineteenth century and replace them with an array of government institutions, legal regimes, and official practices. In sum, this book recasts the post-revolutionary decade as a period which saw the transition from an old to a new world, pivotal to the making of modern Prussia and ultimately, modern Germany.

Details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's current academic staff are available online, and the details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's emeritus academic staff are also available online.

Race and Riots in Thatcher's Britain by Dr Simon Peplow will be published on Friday 25th January 2019 by Manchester University Press.

This powerful and original book locates the anti-police violence that spread across England in 1980-1 within a longer struggle against racism and disadvantage faced by black Britons, which had seen a growth in more militant forms of resistance since the Second World War. It explains these disturbances as 'collective bargaining by riot' - attempts to increase political inclusion by this marginalised group. Through case studies of Bristol, Brixton and Manchester, the book explores the actions of community organisations in the aftermath of disorders. Highlighting the political activities of black Britons and the often-problematic reliance upon 'official' sources when forming historical narratives, it demonstrates the contested value awarded to public inquiries - contrastingly viewed by black Britons as either a method for increased political participation or simply a governmental diversionary tactic.

Details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's current academic staff are available online, and the details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's emeritus academic staff are also available online.

 I Am Waiting For You to Come Back: Family Wartime Diaries (Čekám až se vrátíš. Rodinné deníky z války) is a new book edited by Dr Anna Hájková.

In the six months he spent in hiding in Prague prior to his arrest in August 1944, the Jewish Communist resistance fighter, Jany Lebovič, kept a diary. Jany was deported to Auschwitz and shot upon arrival. At the time of Jany’s arrest, the Nazis deported the mother of Jany’s friend, Pavla Hájková, for supporting this resistance group. Pavla was liberated from a Ravensbrück satellite camp, and throughout the months following her liberation, Pavla kept a diary testifying to her difficult return trip through a destroyed Germany to Prague, her new beginning in Prague, and her slow realization that her husband would never return. For Jany and Pavla, diary-writing represented a means of communicating with their beloved partners, from whom they were separated by the Nazis. These unique documents speak about the Holocaust, concentration camps, Communist resistance, and love in wartime. This edition of these two family diaries is accompanied by the editor’s historical introduction and critical commentary, memories of Pavla’s and Jany’s relatives, and photographs from family archives.

Details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's current academic staff are available online, and the details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's emeritus academic staff are also available online.

 
Dr James Poskett, Assistant Professor in the History of Science and Technology at the Warwick University History Department, offers an expert comment on the vote at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures to decide whether the kilogramme should cease to be benchmarked against "Le Grand Kilo," a physical object stored under three bell jars in a French vault.

For the full expert comment, please see https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/expertcomment/le_grand_kilo.

On Tuesday 30th October the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland celebrated the life and work of the late Professor Sir Christopher Bayly FBA, with the award of the inaugural Bayly Prize and the posthumous launch of Sir Christopher’s book, Remaking the Modern World 1900-2015: Global Connections and Comparisons.

The Bayly Prize is for an outstanding doctoral thesis on an Asian topic completed at a British university in the year prior to the award. In this inaugural year the prize was presented to Dr Johannes Lotze for his thesis, Translation of Empire: Mongol Legacy, Language Policy, and the Early Ming World Order, 1368-1453. The shortlist of five for the prize included Dr Kyle Jackson, former PhD student at the University of Warwick History Department, and Dr Callie Wilkinson, former PhD student at the University of Cambridge and now Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Warwick History Department.

Kyle Jackson (University of Warwick) for Colonial Conquest and Religious Entanglement: A Mizo History from Northeast India (c. 1890-1920). The judges said: “This high-quality piece of historical research draws on indigenous language sources and deploys indigenous terminology to re-centre the history of North-eastern India. Dr Jackson has an eye for a good story, and the thesis is written in elegant and fluid prose, making it a pleasure to read.”

Callie Wilkinson (University of Cambridge) for The Residents of the British East India Company at Indian Royal Courts, c. 1798-1818. The judges said: “This work is distinctive because it refreshes the study of Residents and indirect rule in India by applying new historical methods to the subject. Dr Wilkinson provides us with a rich and nuanced picture of East India Company rule in the subcontinent that moves us away from the main centres of EIC power and beyond traditional subjects of historical study.​”

For more details, please see the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland announcement.
 

 
The Caribbean: A Brief History by Emeritus Professor Gad Heuman has been republished as a Third Edition by Bloomsbury.

In this new edition of his crucial introduction to Caribbean history, Gad Heuman provides a comprehensive overview of the region's history, from its earliest inhabitants to contemporary political and cultural developments. Topics covered include: - The Amerindians - Sugary and Slavery - Race, Racism and Equality - The Aftermath of Emancipation - The Revolutionary Caribbean - Cultures of the Caribbean This third edition has been updated to reflect the latest developments in the literature, and takes into account important recent events including the rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba, the ongoing problem of climate change and the threat of the Zika virus. The companion website, which includes chapter questions, primary documents, a timeline and link to relevant websites, has also been updated with new material. The book considers not only of the political and social struggles that have shaped the Caribbean, but also provides a sense of the development of the region's culture. The Caribbean: A Brief History is ideal for all students seeking a clear and readable introduction to Caribbean history.

Details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's current academic staff are available online, and the details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's emeritus academic staff are also available online.