Sixth form historians - understanding modern Russia

Amazing programme on BBC4 yesterday about the anti-Putin protestors and feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot. If you are going to try and understand modern Russia, President Putin and attitudes to democracy its a pretty good place to start. Its available until 11th December.

NB. The programme below is only suitable for Y12 and Y13.

Storyville - BBC4 Pussy Riot programme

Debating drone strikes - what do you think?

In this month's Foreign Affairs magazine is a really good debate about the use and effectiveness of Drones, unmanned aircraft that have killed a number of suspected terrorists in the last few years.
See what you think:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com - why drones work
And the case against:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com - why drones fail

The Wave - calling all Y12 Historians

For Y12 Historians that have just watched The Wave (what a great film) and want to know more, there is a fabulous website about the films origins:
http://www.thewavehome.com/
Morton Rhue, an American novelist actually called Todd Strasser, wrote a novel based on the original 1969 experiment by the History teacher Ron Jones. Buy it from Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wave-Classroom-out-Control
And for those of you into German films based on psychological experiments, try this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Das-Experiment-DVD
And the other film I recommended on Friday:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Edukators-DVD

As part of the BBC's series: life and death in a Tudor court, I would recommend you watch The last days of Anne Boleyn (now available on iPlayer) and the equivalent show regarding Thomas Cromwell (BBC Two 9pm tonight). Both are designed to provide a fantastic insight into the events of the period and the differing historical interpretation

AS/A2 British history - amazing resource

http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/sub_approach.php?sub_approach_id=12#article_anchor
The web link above goes to a great website on the Whigs and Liberals that has a great (free) archive of resources for all things Liberal. You can search it by period, so if you want Whig reforms from the 1830s, click on the Period tab and all the relevant resources for that flash up. You should never again have an excuse for a lack of historians debate in your essay.

His 2L Stalin revision materials

Year 12- as mentioned today the revision documents are available on the VLE for His2L- under the section titled (you've guessed it) AS History His2L. Apologies for the lack of a document for the chapter on Stalin, Stalinism and the cult of personality, but I took a rather laissez-faire attitude to that section; so to paraphrase Samuel Smiles "do it yourself". Other than that have fun revising and don't forget your historical interpretation (for both sides of the course).

Middle East history - the Syrian conflict

The Middle East, and specifically Syria, is very much in the news at the moment. It can only be understood by looking at its history, and we are fortunate that some great TV and radio programmes have been on recently to help us understand it.
The first is Dan Snow's History of Syria, going all the way back before the Romans before coming all the way up to the Assad dynasty and current conflict:
Dan Snow's History of Syria
The second was on Channel 4 this week, a shocking behind the scenes portrayal of what life is like in the current conflict from both sides:
C4 - Syria: Across the lines
In both programmes are references to Shia and Sunni Muslims. If you want to know more, and understand where the differences come from listen to this BBC podcast:
BBC In Our Time - Religion, Sunni and Shia Islam
Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and you will see the programme. You can download it to play later.
I hope the above both sparks your interest in this fascinating part of the world, and helps you to understand more of the current news coverage.

Hope everyone is enjoying their time off, and doing all their history homework/revision, after all what could be more important?

As you can see we've undergone an appearance change; we now have the rather unorthodox combination of the bayeux tapestry and the colour orange. So just a heads up that your thoughts on the changes would be much appreciated.

Richard III display

If you're in the library this week, keep an eye out for the Richard III display detailing aspects of his life, death and legacy throughout history. In addition to this there is a competition running (open to all students but aimed more at years 7-9), in which students must complete a quiz and design a pro Richard propaganda poster. Deadline day is Friday the 17th of May. And if for any unthinkable reason you still need convincing to take part, then yes there will be prizes.

GCSE options

Thankyou to everybody in year 8 who came to the options evening last night. We hope we were able to tell you all about the course and convinced you that GCSE History is the right subject for you. But if you do need any extra information, don't be afraid to ask any member of the History department. Or if you wish to gain a more personal insight from a student's perspective there is a whole host of sixth formers and current GCSE students who will be more than willing to answer your questions.

Educational television programmes

Two rather interesting programmes have been on television over the past week, first of all there was Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons which looks at the origins of Stonehenge and its purpose (now available for viewing on 4oD). This was followed by Dan Snow's A history of Syria which looks at the origins of conflict in the region and the impact of French and British colonial influence (now available for viewing on BBC iPlayer)

As an addition Dan Snow has produced a series looking at historical battlefields and would be educational for those with an interest in military history (and Year 7 pupils given that one of the battles studied is the battle of Hastings)

Politics and Government Newsletter from Wiley publishing

Calling all Sixth formers.
This quarterly newsletter that you can sign up to receive contains some fabulous access to journals from all around the world, with interesting articles to do with modern history, politics, sociology, economics and much more. Try the British Journal of Politics for this month, which has freely accessible articles on the current state of the Labour party and their economic thinking.

Politics and Government Newsletter

Its also available as an app from iTunes here:
Wiley Publishing App from iTunes

Falklands programmes on this week

For those interested in military weapons and/or the Falklands War, two programmes on this week that you may be interested in.
Tonight on BBC 4 at 8pm is Decisive Weapons, looking at the Harrier Jump Jet:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0077c0f
And then on BBC2 on Thursday is The Sea King: Britain's flying past, looking at the helicopter workhorse of the RAF and Royal Navy which is still in use:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r1z3g
Examples of both of these aircraft can be seen locally at Aeroventure, the air museum behind Vue Cinema in Doncaster:
http://www.southyorkshireaircraftmuseum.org.uk/
You can even follow the stunning restoration of the Sea King here. Its the only one in a museum (so far): Sea King restoration website

The Slave Auctions

A clip for year 8 students examining the nature of a Slave Auction in Latin America

Vietnam in HD - E04 "An Endless War" (1968-1969) Great context for Bii

NAMSENSE Part 1 - Another interview for Part Bii, Year 11

Radio interview - Hamburger Hill: The Final Assault

 Interview (which kicks in after about 16 minutes) with Arthur Wiknik, a veteran of the American assault to take Hamburger Hill. Really useful to test the accuracy of the film.

BEST TALK RADIO - Hamburger Hill: The Final Assault

Warfare - Featured Articles

Warfare magazine - free sign in

The above is an excellent area that you can sign into for free. Great coverage of recent stories in the news, and articles about all aspects of warfare, competitions to enter and book reviews. Well worth a look.

Thirteen Days - The Cuban Missile Crisis Official Movie Trailer

Thirteen Days film on Monday evening

Calling all Y13 Historians, particularly those doing essay question 1. Also on TV tomorrow night is the film "Thirteen Days", based on Robert Kennedy's book of the same name that describes the moment the world came closest to a nuclear war, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Coming on the back of the 1961 Vienna summit (you've got the DVD) that Kennedy did not come out well from, Soviet leader Khrushchev thought he could throw his weight around and ordered missiles and launch facilities to be installed on an island only 80 miles from the American mainland. It does not start until 0.20 on BBC1 (early hours of Tuesday morning) so you may well need to record it, but it really is an excellent film that conveys the tension of the time very well.
Link to trailer to come...

Really excited about a new programme about the wars between England and France in the Middle Ages, labelled as The Hundred Years War (they last more than a hundred years by the way.) New series starts tomorrow night on BBC4 at 9pm, and I understand the first part will focus on the Battle of Crecy of 1346, a crucial turning point in military history because of the new weapons and tactics used. English forces were led by King Edward III, and his eldest son Edward, known as the Black Prince. If you are in Leeds to visit the Armouries (see previous post) go and see the Black Prince's statue outside the station in Leeds - you can't miss it.
New BBC4 series 9pm MONDAY
Background on Hundred Years War

Wild West comes to Leeds next week

If you are studying the American West as part of our GCSE course, there is nowhere better to go next week than the Royal Armouries in Leeds. They have a special Wild West event on all half term week, and the best news is that entry is free. For more information click on the link below:
http://www.armouries.org.uk/home

A brief clip for year 13, and also anyone else who is interested by empire, looking at the role of Trade in the British empire:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/what-was-the-role-of-money-and-trade-in-the-british-empire/13353.html

'BBC 2 builds on Richard III frenzy with Tudors season':
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/feb/06/bbc2-richard-iii-tudors - certainly looks to be worth watching

Year 12 Historians here is a link to some revision resources and Powerpoints for the British History course:
http://www.educationforum.co.uk/history/history.htm

Fact or Fiction. Richard III _ 5/5

This video explores beliefs regarding medicine in medieval times and how they changed in the renaissance period. Particularly useful for those studying GCSE: Medicine Through Time, but also those students in year 8 who are considering GCSE History and aren't entirely sure what the course entails:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/from-medieval-to-renaissance-medicine/3291.html

This brief clip looks at the Triangular Trade, a key feature of the slave trade , which is particularly relevant for Year 8 and their study of Slavery.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/triangular-trade/3882.html

After yesterday's exciting announcement that confirmed that the skeleton under the car park was the remains of King Richard III, today saw the unveiling of his reconstructed face. Click on this link to go straight to the Guardian's coverage of this event:
http://gu.com/p/3dhj4
 And the BBC's coverage:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21328380