H&P encourages historians to use their expertise to shed light on issues of the day. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece for publication, please see our editorial guidelines. We currently have 326 Opinion Articles listed by date and they are all freely searchable by theme, author or keyword.
Inspired by our recent opinion article by Alison McClean, historian and royal biographer Andrew Lownie writes about his own experience of the reclosure of files on the royal family at the National Archives and poses some urgent questions for the Keeper of TNA. We need to know on whose authority these reclosures are being made and why there is not greater transparency and accountability regarding this process.
Since 2012, thousands of previously open documents have been removed from public access under the Reclosure Policy of the National Archives (TNA). The full extent of this withdrawal of previously decalssified material is not apparent from TNA's annual reports on reclosure. The process itself is extremely opaque and appears to involve the application of the exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act in ways that run contrary to the spirit of that legislation. Historians should be concerned by this development.
Media coverage of the recent alleged thefts from the British Museum has focused on the monetary value of the missing artefacts rather than their historical and cultural significance. This in turn reflects the commercialisation of the museum sector. A greater engagement with the scholarly community could enhance institutions' awareness and appreciation of their holdings and hence reduce the risk of items disappearing almost unnoticed.
Trevor Burnard explores the shift in consciousness around the acceptibility of slavery in the mid-eighteenth century, and suggests how Britain should undertake a serious reckoning with this history.
Nick Draper recounts the inertia and resistance to change that led to the fall of the Colston statue. Historians now have a complex job to do in the new terms of debate.
Tosh Warwick on the precedents for dealing with sporting fixture postponement and cancellation, from smallpox outbreaks of previous eras.
The December 2019 general election campaign has been like no other - partly due to the lack of scrutiny.
As the new US embassy is unveiled in London, Carl Bridge and Eileen Chanin look at a historical example of a truly "open" embassy building.
David Vincent asks whether the so-called 'Snooper's Charter' is really unprecedented in the history of surveillance and security legislation
Tehmina Goskar calls for a truer interpretation of history at the Tintagel Castle site.
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