All articles in Society & Culture
6th September, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
A history of British pub names
Walk down any British high street and you are sure to see a pub. The local. Nearly every British city, town or village has one. You can also be sure that, no matter the age of the building, the name of the pub draws inspiration from history. There’s a unique heritage to…
15th August, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
India from Queen Victoria’s time to independence
Queen Victoria became Empress of India in May 1876. Benjamin Disraeli, the Conservative Prime Minister, saw the new title as an effort to link the monarchy to the country and tie it closer to Britain while also showcasing Britain as a dominant world power. India had been under cr…
7th August, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Entertainment, Society & Culture
Travelling the world in a double-decker bus
Richard King, author of Band on the Bus, reveals how a small wager at the end of the ‘Summer of Love’ in 1967 sowed the seeds of an adventure that was to completely change his life… One evening in my ‘local’, a small country pub, The Deers Hut, just outside the Hampshir…
5th July, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
Dadabhai Naoroji: The UK’s first Indian MP
Dadabhai Naoroji was an Indian social political leader and one of the founders of the Indian National Congress. A leading nationalist author and spokesman, he was the first Indian to be elected to membership in the British Parliament. Born in Mumbai in 1825 in a Gujarati-speaking…
4th July, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, History, Society & Culture
Thomas Cook’s first tours to the continent
Soon after the emotional blow of his mother’s death, Thomas Cook took a brave step. He gave up his printing business so he could become a full-time tourist operator, having already been in travel commercially for ten years. Liverpool and Wales were augmented by more destinations…
23rd June, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
Freemasonry: The first Masonic Grand Lodge
Over 300 years ago the Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), was founded in London to govern Freemasonry. What is Freemasonry? Dogged by conspiracy theories, implicated in countless political intrigues…
15th June, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
Why is Magna Carta still celebrated?
Back in 1215, Magna Carta was like many a new-born in the Middle Ages: the odds were stacked against its survival. It was a sickly baby with abusive parents. Those who’d conceived it – King John and the barons – abandoned it within three months, and turned to attack each other. T…
12th June, 2017 in Society & Culture
A brief history of signet rings
Many people wear or own signet rings today. They are expressions of individuality and fashion statements, sometimes they are even family heirlooms. In fact the signet ring used to be an important cultural item of jewellery and has played a surprisingly significant role in history…
31st May, 2017 in Entertainment, Society & Culture
30 iconic album covers
On 1 June 1967, The Beatles released their psychedelic landmark eighth album – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Hailed as one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time, the 13 tracks (which included songs such as ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’, ‘With a Little…
18th May, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Military, Society & Culture
Escaping from Hungary’s Iron Curtain
In 1956 Hungary was separated from the West by what was a believed-to-be impenetrable structure. Churchill called it the ‘Iron Curtain’. “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an ‘Iron Curtain’ has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capit…
8th May, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
Buffalo Bill’s British Wild West
Britain was full of expectation during the early months of 1887. Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India had been on the throne for half a century – most of that time spent out of the public spotlight in mourning for her husband and consort,…
3rd May, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
The Festival of Britain 1951
In 1951 towns and cities across Britain still bore the devastating scars of the Second World War which had ended only six years earlier. After more than a decade of rationing, austerity and making-do, gloomy post-war Britain needed a lift. The government’s antidote was ‘The…