Happy Summer

From all of us here at the Manchester Historian we hope all our contributors and readers have a wonderful summer break. We’ll be back in September bringing you all the history you’ve been missing. Good luck to everyone leaving us this summer and the biggest thank you to our editorial team, Laura, Jamie and Thomas.

Changing the World- The Printing Press

Whilst the social and political elite in exclusive universities had held the monopoly on scholarship for centuries, Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1440 revolutionized the potential for learning for ordinary people. The shift from laboriously copying out manuscript to reproducing thousands of copies at a time drove the momentum towards our current Continue Reading

The Invasion of Poland in 1939 and its Wider Implications

It is hard to overstate the significance of the September Campaign, the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland, in catalysing the eruption of global warfare in 1939-45. Within two days of the invasion, Great Britain and France had declared war on Nazi Germany with the Commonwealth of Nations following suit. The invasion was diplomatically catastrophic for Neville Continue Reading

The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was a movement towards reason and rationality in the 18th century in Europe. This movement primarily altered perceptions of politics, philosophy, science, and communications. The Enlightenment advanced ideals of liberty, freedom and equality. This was an extremely progressive movement. Ideas of enlightenment spread through Salons where discussions and debates took place Continue Reading