The articles below were prompted, first and foremost, by my enthusiasm for a particular piece of history – a book, a source, a person, an event or a topic – and wanting to share my enthusiasm with teachers. Some of these articles are simply that – discussions of a piece of history – but in others I couldn’t stop myself reflecting on how the item I’d been reading or researching might influence teaching. I hope you find it enjoyable to read about the history and that my teaching thoughts spark fresh ideas of your own.

This list of articles is presented in approximate chronological order. At the end you will also find celebrations of good friends from the world of history teaching.

The Luttrell Psalter:
An Introduction for Teachers

We’ve all seen illustrations from the psalter in textbooks but what’s the whole psalter like? Looking through a complete facsimile edition was a joy so I set out to pass onto teachers what I’d discovered. There’s a lot more to it than just those farming scenes!

 

Urban Bodies by Carole Rawcliffe

Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities

Such a brilliant book, one of my all-time favourites! Here I tried to summarise some of the main arguments of the book and how it could change teaching about late medieval public health – and how this re-thinking fitted in with other research into this period.

 

Muck and Misery?
Standards of Living in the Middle Ages

This appeared in Teaching History in 1995. The aim was to bring new teachers up to date with historians’ views and research, using some recently published academic books – and while much more research has been done since then the broad arguments still hold good.

 

The Paston Letters: An Introduction for Teachers

Who were the Pastons, what’s in their letters and
how can you use them in the classroom?

 

Anne Herbert: A Life in The Wars of the Roses

I confess I developed a crush on Anne, even though she died over 500 years ago. The research began when failing to write a novel but it led to this article published in The Historian in 2014 – any woman who was respected by and inspired affection from Henry VII has to be intriguing! And there’s the mystery of the ring … and her husband’s will … and …

 

Henry VII: Out of the Shadows

I wrote this in 1995 for The Historical Review, a magazine for A level students, soon after I’d run workshops at The Tower of London in role as Henry. It’s not an analysis of politics but of what we can find out about Henry as a person, an attempt to move beyond caricatures of him as a dour accountant or an enigmatic, elusive personality.

 

Henry VII: diligent bureaucrat or paranoid blunderer?

Another piece on the continually interesting Henry VII (yes, honestly!). This was written for Teaching History in 2005, an update on historians’ interpretations but, while the intended audience was teachers, it can be read just as easily and, hopefully, usefully by A level students.

 

The Great Plague: A People’s History by Evelyn Lord

This book tells the story of a single outbreak of plague in Cambridge in 1665-66. The outline will be familiar but it’s the recreation of the reactions and actions of the community that may be useful to teachers or just enjoyably interesting without thinking about how to use the content in teaching.

 

Liberty’s Dawn by Emma Griffin

Liberty’s Dawn: A People’s History of the Industrial Revolution

I was given this book as a present otherwise I’d never have read it! And I’m very glad I did read it – it was both highly enjoyable and it then led me to write this review and go on to discuss my reflections on the teaching of the Industrial Revolution at KS3.

 

My Grandfather, The Great War and Medicine

I knew, vaguely, that my maternal grandfather had lost a leg in the Great War and had been gassed but that was all until I started exploring his experiences for a GCSE textbook.  This article sets out some of the information I discovered, where it came from and much more – none of which I’d have found out if it hadn’t been for that specification!

 

Kings of Football

This was definitely a whimsical moment – I created some historical football teams and added questions that might prompt some students to do a bit of research and learn a bit of history at the same time. Who would make my historical football team? Thomas Becket in goal of course – he’s very experienced in handling crosses – and much more in that vein.