History at Epsom College

Old news - the 2014 Washington Politics trip

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 19:49:00 +0000

Worthwhile posting here as well as elsewhere. Here is a "Google" photostory of the 2014 Washington DC politics trip. Click on the link below, and you'll find it!

https://plus.google.com/100806125308833340321/posts/WSSa4rCFU8L

M4 Battlefields Trip 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 May 2015 14:20:00 +0000

A group of teachers and members of the M4 year embarked on a brief visit to the Battlefields of Belgium and Northern France as part of their Historical studies. Lead by the ever-able and willing Acting-Head of History Dr Henry Meier, accompanied by teachers Mr Charles Conway, Miss Simone Cheshire, Mr Gordon Watson, and Mr Ben Jerrit. We were joined by Rob Deere, a very knowledgeable and inspiring guide who was able to explain in detail the key features of the landscape and the battlefields themselves. Here is a selection of photos, embedded as part of a Google+ photo-story:

Second World War online

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 May 2015 15:56:00 +0000

Google has just set up another of their virtual exhibitions, this time to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe (or VE Day). Events have been happening across the country, and across the world come to that, but the exhibition can be found by clicking on the link above.

Crowds celebrating VE Day in 1945.
Picture Credit: BBC / Getty

Dan Snow - WW1 videos

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 11:15:00 +0000

A short post to highlight some great short videos by historian Dan Snow about various aspects of World War One.

These are made by the BBC and have been posted on YouTube:

Why trenches:

Breaking the Deadlock:

The Myths:

Tanks:

The soldiers' kit:

Food:

Barbed Wire:

M4 History Project internet resources - WW1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 11:46:00 +0000

Now that the M4 History Project into aspects of World War One is in full swing, it may be useful to post here some internet resources.

Some British Tommies. Somewhere in France.
Picture Credit: BBC

Use the following imaginatively; don't forget to make a note of what sites you have used and put this information into a bibliography at the end!

Good use of specific contextual knowledge will be crucial for getting a high mark in the project!

Start here:

The BBC has a landing page for all things WW1:

Magna Carta at 800

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 22:55:00 +0000

2015 is, amongst other things, the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta; arguably the founding document of democracy in Britain.

King John signs the Magna Carta - an 1864 Woodcut.
Picture Credit - The Guardian

You could, of course, argue that it is less important than is sometimes thought.

Either way, the document itself is the result of an argument between a pretty terrible King, John, and his nobles.

The Magna Carta restricted for the first time the power of the King to do what he liked; all of a sudden his power was limited by law.

There is plenty of material out there for the interested:
The Wikipedia page is here. The celebratory 800-anniversary web-page is here.

A close-up of the Magna Carta itself.
Picture Credit - The Guardian.

I'd also suggest checking out a BBC Radio show about the historical events leading up to the Magna Carta.

You'll find the web-page on the BBC site here.

Article Database

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 09:28:00 +0000

As an experiment, the History and Politics dept's database of articles has been imported into Google Docs.

It is viewable (and sortable) by clicking here.

Click on the Filter button:

Picture credit: GCFLearnFree

Then click on the "down arrow" on the top of each column to sort:

Picture Credit: GCFLearnfree

More information can be found here.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 09:01:00 +0000

As part of the commemorations and celebrations of the centenary of the start of World War One the History department, under the leadership of the head of department Dr Tod, are hosting a lecture series called "Reflections on World War One". These will be lectures and talks by notable speakers and historians at Epsom College. Videos of these events will be posted on YouTube and the first one is viewable here.

See below for a brief highlights package of the first lecture by noted Historian Saul David. Professor David's history books encompass such epic events as the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the Zulu War of 1879, while his bestselling novels include Zulu Hart and Hart of Empire. He has also presented history programmes for all major TV channels.

Most recently, he has returned to one of his great interests, the events of World War One, and has just published the outstanding 100 Days To Victory: How The Great War Was Fought and Won.

Here is the complete lecture:

M4 Battlefields Trip 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 11:28:00 +0000

The M4s went to the Battlefields of the Ypres / Somme region of France and Belgium. See below for a video of some of the highlights:

GCSE History revision - Podcasts and videos

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 15 May 2014 17:00:00 +0000

The GCSE History Paper 1 is tomorrow; best of luck to everybody!

A student has pointed me in the direction of this great site which has lots of free "Podcasts" and videos of revision for the GCSE History course.

I've embedded one of the videos here, or check out the rest of the site on the link above.

The First World War

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 May 2014 13:24:00 +0000

See this page for a number of fascinating articles about the First World War. Any student contemplating the causes or outcomes of WW1 for M4 or GCSE should take a look at this page by esteemed historian Russel Tarr.

There is also a great site here about the WW1 by the organisation which looks after war graves across the world, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It's a great page which has a wealth of material, video and pictures.

Highly recommended.

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 02 May 2014 15:31:00 +0000

This is a test post.

Welcome to the Epsom College History Dept blog.