Dominic Sandbrook accused of "recycling" the work of other historians in latest book

Dominic Sandbrook accused of "recycling" the work of other historians in latest book

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FREE history presentations and resources produced by THF.You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below: video audio

The Oliver North File

The Oliver North File:

His Diaries, E-Mail, and Memos on
the Kerry Report, Contras and Drugs.

Link to electronic briefing book (outside THF network).

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You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below:

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The Iran-Contra Affair

The Iran-Contra Affair

From The National Security Archives, George Washington University.

"On November 25, 1986, the biggest political and constitutional scandal since Watergate exploded in Washington when President Ronald Reagan told a packed White House news conference that funds derived from covert arms deals with the Islamic Republic of Iran had been diverted to buy weapons for the U.S.-backed Contra rebels in Nicaragua." Read more in the online briefing book.

Link to electronic briefing book (outside THF network).

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You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below:

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The Gunpowder Plot

Recommended by THF.

A podcast from the National Archives

The gunpowder plot: key documents and hidden voices

The National Archives holds a wide range of documents which tell the story of the Gunpowder Plot and its investigation - but their meaning is hotly contested. James Travers selects some of the key documents and shows that beneath the noise of the ideological debate, we can hear the principal characters speaking in their own words - and a very different view of the plot emerges.

Author: James Travers
Duration: 39:06

Listen to the podcast, and see further information, including primary documents.

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You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below:

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The 1956 Hungarian Revolution

The 1956 Hungarian Revolution

From The National Security Archive, George Washington University.

Press release:

"There is no publication, in any language, that would even approach the thoroughness, reliability, and novelty of this monumental work …. [I]t will change forever our views of what happened in Hungary between 1953- 1963." - István Deák, Columbia University

The National Security Archive announces the publication of a new volume of top-level documentation from the former Warsaw Pact and the West that provides important new information and insights into one of the darkest moments of the Cold War.

Taken from the former Soviet Union, Hungary and the United States, as well as from other East European and Western archives, these materials - many of which were previously unavailable to an English-speaking audience - provide a comprehensive picture of the decision-making on all sides of the Hungarian events of October-November 1956. Highlights include:

• U.S. attitudes toward the use of violence in Eastern Europe. Newly declassified portions of top-level U.S. policy documents and National Security Council minutes show that senior officials were prepared to consider the resort to violence in Eastern Europe in furtherance of U.S. interests.

• The role of Radio Free Europe (RFE). Internal RFE documents confirm that the Radio overstepped its bounds in encouraging Hungarian hopes of imminent Western assistance.

• The Suez crisis. Notes of Kremlin and White House discussions indicate the possible impact of the late October 1956 attack on Suez on the Soviet decision to intervene with overwhelming force in Hungary in early November.

• The character and fate of Imre Nagy. Hungarian and Soviet documents provide a more complex portrait of reform Communist Prime Minister Imre Nagy, whom the U.S. saw as a Soviet disciple but who went further than any other leader in the socialist camp other than Tito in asserting independence from the USSR. Other records give previously unknown details on the discussions between various leaders over whether to try and execute Nagy.
  

• The two faces of János Kádár. Hungary's long-time Communist leader has always been something of an enigma. Notes of Kremlin and Warsaw Pact meetings as well as internal Hungarian records add important insights into his attempts both to assert freedom of action vis-à-vis Moscow and to crack down brutally on internal dissent, especially against Nagy and his circle.

• Kremlin vacillations. Taken together, the materials in this volume offer an extraordinary picture of the thinking of Soviet leaders, their indecisiveness in the face of the Hungarian crisis and the reasons underlying their eventual decision to crush the revolution."

Link to Electronic Briefing Book (outside THF network).

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You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below:

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Transcribe Bentham

Transcribe Bentham

Here's a fantastic opportunity to be involved in an ongoing archival project, with an opportunity to learn about researching, transcribing, and, ultimately, becoming part of history yourself...

"Transcribe Bentham is a participatory project based at University College London. Its aim is to engage the public in the online transcription of original and unstudied manuscript papers written by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), the great philosopher and reformer. We would like to encourage all those who have an interest in Bentham or those with an interest in history, politics, law, philosophy and economics, fields to which Bentham made significant contributions, to visit the site. Those with an enthusiasm for palaeography, transcription and manuscript studies will be interested in Bentham’s handwriting, while those involved in digital humanities, education and heritage learning will find the site intriguing. Undergraduates and school pupils studying Bentham’s ideas are particularly encouraged to use the site to enhance their learning experience.

Bentham Papers

There are 60,000 papers written by Bentham in UCL’s library but several thousands of these papers, potentially of immense historical and philosophical importance, have yet to be transcribed and studied. By transcribing this material for the first time, you will be making Bentham’s thought accessible to the world at large, as well as helping UCL’s Bentham Project in its task of producing a new authoritative edition of the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham.

Getting Involved

Access the Transcription Desk. Here you can create a user account which will give you direct access to the images. You can select a manuscript to view and transcribe; save your work, and return to view your own contributions. You can interact with other users by creating a social profile and by sharing ideas in the discussion forum. There is a quickstart guide to using the tool and detailed guidelines on how to transcribe the manuscripts. You can contact us for general advice, help with a specific problem or for further information.

Why get involved?

By participating in Transcribe Bentham you will be helping to preserve national heritage. Your contributions will be stored and will eventually form part of a fully searchable online database. You will be helping to widen access to Bentham manuscripts and to encourage engagement with his works. You will also help to sustain the study of palaeography and manuscripts. Your contributions will form the basis of future scholarship including printed editions of the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham. You may discover profound ideas which will help shape modern thinking.

Schools

Bentham’s ideas are studied as part of a range of A-levels and Scottish Highers and school teachers, including those who teach junior classes, will find Transcribe Bentham an interesting and useful topic to incorporate into their lessons. Read our guidance on how this transcription initiative can be used by schools and our information on class trips to the Bentham Project.

Transcribe Bentham is hosted by the Bentham Project in the Faculty of Laws, UCL, in collaboration with UCL’s Centre for Digital Humanities, UCL Library Services and the University of London Computer Centre.

Funded by The Arts & Humanities Research Council

Link to the project
---FREE history presentations and resources produced by THF.You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below: video audio

The Tudors - Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots

Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots

Prof. John Guy's public lectures for all those interested in Tudor History. Hosted by tudors.org.

This site contains a vast body of Prof. Guy's notes, as well as other papers, talks etc. There is also a forum for debating the key issues.

Link to keynotes (outside THF network).

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FREE history presentations and resources produced by THF.

You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below:

video audio

The Tudors - For What Did Thomas More So Silently Die?

For What Did Thomas More So Silently Die?

Prof. John Guy's public lectures for all those interested in Tudor History. Hosted by tudors.org.

This site contains a vast body of Prof. Guy's notes, as well as other papers, talks etc. There is also a forum for debating the key issues.

Link to keynotes (outside THF network).

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FREE history presentations and resources produced by THF.

You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below:

video audio

The Tudors - Imagining and Detecting Conspiracy, 1571-1605

Imagining and Detecting Conspiracy, 1571-1605

Prof. John Guy's public lectures for all those interested in Tudor History. Hosted by tudors.org.

This site contains a vast body of Prof. Guy's notes, as well as other papers, talks etc. There is also a forum for debating the key issues.

Link to keynotes (outside THF network).

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FREE history presentations and resources produced by THF.

You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below:

video audio

The Tudors - Mary Stuart and the Failure of the Darnley Marriage

Mary Stuart and the Failure of the Darnley Marriage

Prof. John Guy's public lectures for all those interested in Tudor History. Hosted by tudors.org.

This site contains a vast body of Prof. Guy's notes, as well as other papers, talks etc. There is also a forum for debating the key issues.

Link to keynotes (outside THF network).

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FREE history presentations and resources produced by THF.

You can download podcasts to your mp4 player and/or mobile phone for free by visiting the THF Podcast Homepage or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds below:

video audio