Now we are firmly past Pancake Day and into the run up to Easter, many of us have given up something for Lent, the most popular choice being chocolate and all things carby and sweet. Yet the motivation for this discipline is important – not just to get your bikini body ready in time Continue Reading
The Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. Its death toll rangedfrom between 70 and 200 million people across the globe. The significance of such a horrendous disease is extraordinary, it took around 150 years for the world’s population to recover, and was not fully eradicated until the 19thcentury. Continue Reading
Battle of Brentford
Brentford, a working-class suburb of West London, is best known in the 21st century for its aspirational football team and the world famous garage DJs of Kurrupt FM. But, in November 1642 it was the site of a small but significant battle in the First English Civil War. Located at the convergence of the River Continue Reading
Manchester Central Library Review
It is now nearly one year since the reopening of the Manchester Central Library to the public in March 2014, after three years of closure for renovation work. Perhaps the stated goal of the council prior to the opening, that the library would become ‘Manchester’s living room’, was a little too ambitious, but it remains Continue Reading
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi is a figure of Chinese history who is an incredibly interesting, influential and controversial woman. This controversy stems from the fact that in practice she ruled China for forty seven years until she died in 1908. Chinese society from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty was based upon Continue Reading