Issue 1 - Manchester Historian

Issue 1, April 2011

the Manchester Historian

The students are revolting!

A look at student protest, past and present Current Affairs, p.3

Manchester’s secret past

A behind the scenes tour of your city Local History, p.6

Ancient Rome

Pompeii’s brothels and an imfamous emperor Feature, pp.7 - 10

The Manchester Museum Uncovering the truth behind THAT crab Reviews, p.14

Manchester’s Whitworth Hall

What do you really know about your university?

A guide to historic buildings and lecturers University History, p.4

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Contents 3. Student Protest, a history Current Affairs

4. Profiles on Samuel Alexander & A.J.P Taylor University History

5. The Peterloo Massacre & the meeting of Rolls & Royce

6. Map of Manchester’s secret past

Spotlight on your city

7. The colourful life of Emperor Nero

8-9. A history of Pompeii 10. Ten things you didn’t know about the Romans Feature

11-12. Interview with Dr Max Jones & staff research updates

Staff section

13. Noticeboard 14-15. Reviews

Editor’s Note Juliette Donaldson, Florence Holmes, Frankie Williams Hello and welcome to the brand new history departmental newspaper; The Manchester Historian.

We’re really excited about this new project, which will hopefully continue long after the three of us have graduated! Essentially, we wanted to establish a History community, and use the paper as a tool to promote stronger ties between students, staff, the university and the city itself. This is, after all, your home for the next few years, so you might as well know something about its past!

This paper is an entirely student led effort, with undergrads from all three years involved – see it as a platform for you to share your interests with the entire history department!

If Manchester’s long and turbulent past tickles your fancy, take a look at pages 5 and 6 to find out more.

For you Ancient Historians out there, this issue’s feature section is on the Romans, so put down your library books and dive into a world of deranged emperors and secret sexuality on pages 7 to 10. We have a staff section containing an interview with the legendary Dr Max Jones, as well as research updates on what your lecturers are really doing outside of our contact hours! There’s also a fantastic reviews section, giving you the low down on all things history; from the local Manchester museum to the Oscar winning “The King’s Speech”. And if that’s not enough to set your historical heart racing, we’ve also included a procrastination puzzle page to keep you amused when you’re in the library “doing work”!

So, what are you waiting for? Get stuck in!

If you want to get involved, or just fancy a chat about any of the articles, contact us on: Florence.holmes@student.manchester.ac.uk Juliette.donaldson@student.manchester.ac.uk Francesca.williams@student.manchester.ac.uk Love,

16. Procrastination Puzzle Page

Juliette, Florence and Frankie

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Current Affairs

The Power of Protest A look at student protest throughout the ages.

Juliette Donaldson, Florence Holmes & Frankie Williams You say cut back we say fight back! In the face of education cuts and rising tuition fees you may have found yourself chanting these words in the nationwide marches that took place at the end of last year. The storming of Millbank Tower by protestors will undoubtedly go down in history as an iconic moment of government defiance and police brutality, fitting in with the worldwide revolutionary fervour of the past twelve months. Students the world over, from here in Manchester to those risking their lives in North Africa, have been locked in conflict with their respective governments in protest against austerity and tyranny.

But how does this fit in an historical context?

Although it is common knowledge that students and revolution go hand in hand in modern events, what you may not realise is that in protesting you are continuing a tradition of student activism that has been almost a thousand years in the making.

The start of the movement in Britain is considered to be marked in 1967, where the first sit-in was held at the London School of Economics over the unfair suspension of two students. Its success was followed by a national anti-racism rally held in the same year, attended by over 100,000 protestors. From the 1960’s onwards, issues including the Vietnam War and racism became the focal point for student activism.

This tradition continued into the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, where students joined the public in taking to the streets several times against the introduction of poll tax by the Thatcher government. The largest of these protests, on the 31 March 1990 in London, saw mass rioting in Whitehall and Trafalgar square, with approximately 200,000 protestors demonstrating their resentment toward the tax.

Headlines on the recent demonstrations in London focussed on the thuggish antics of the

student protestors and the harsh measures used by police to restrain them. However, this brute force pales in comparison with that used in the past. Most famous is the massacre of thousand of students peacefully gathered in Tiananmen Square in 1989 by the Chinese authorities. Less well known is the case of Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student who, in protest against the dictatorial regime of Georgios Papadopoulos, set himself on fire in 1970, becoming a burning emblem for the revolutionary cause. In the same year in America, four students were shot dead by the National Guard who had been deployed to dampen the protests at Kent State University in Ohio, where students protesting against US involvement in the Vietnam War had taken to arson and looting. Two of the students killed were not protestors, but simply caught in the cross fire as they walked to class.

For as long as there have been students there has been student protest. In 1229 the first university activists took to the streets of Paris to protest the deaths of a number of fellow students. However, throughout history student revolts have not always had such noble motivation. The well named 1766 Great Butter Rebellion saw students at Harvard University walking out in protest against the poor quality of butter in the University canteen. The butter was soon upgraded.

This year has already seen revolution in the Middle East, North Africa as well as the marches right here in Britain, all upheld broadly by the students themselves. But what of the future of student protest?

Earlier this year a fresh generation was seen to take interest in politics, quoting Dumbledore, rather than Che Guevara, as their icon. The German state of Hesse recently revoked its tuition fees in response to nationwide unrest, proving the continued strength of student activism. The melting pot of culture, class and political views at university will forever ensure that the words ‘student’ and ‘protest’ will always be intertwined.

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University history

Behind the bust

producing some of the most influential philosophical works of the twentieth century.

A closer look at the life of the SAHC namesake, Samuel Alexander.

He became a legendary professor at Manchester (I hope you Samantha Brill

notice the connection here!), won an Order of Merit, became a prominent Zionist and feminist, and left all his money to universities, not having troubled to get married.

Humanities students have three things in common. The first thing is a vague awareness of a bronze bust in the Samuel Alexander building. The other two things: procrastination and an urge to giggle at the word ‘bust’. This column is about the first thing. The statue is of Samuel Alexander, by And why the bust in the humanities foyer? Here Epstein. I know what you’re thinking: if only I are my theories: first, of course, because it’s valuable/interesting (likely); second, because knew all about Alexander’s life and work! there was nowhere else to store it (possible/ Fortunately for you, I googled him. He was worth it. unlikely); and third, so that Alexander’s intimidating Alexander impresses: a broke Australian Jew who overachievement (which we now know all about) came to England in 1877, who then managed to would inspire procrastinating students to stop get a scholarship to an anti-semitic Oxford, before laughing at the word ‘bust’, and get some work done.

Manchester’s most famous lecturer An examaniation of the life of Britain’s most controversial historian, A.J.P. Taylor.

Aditya Iyer

Manchester University and Magdalen College, Oxford in 1936 and 1938 respectively, where students would actually arrive an hour early so that they could get a AJP Taylor, born in Lancashire on 25 March seat in the packed auditorium.

1906, was undoubtedly one of the finest historians of all time, and should be treated by He received virtually every honour that the academic the modern day undergraduate as a godlike world could bestow upon him, and yet maintained an infamous independence that rankled all of his peers being on par with the Horrible History series. and government (with actions like espousing, at the Perhaps the most admirable trait of Taylor’s height of the Cold War, an Anglo-Soviet alliance). was his abstinence from the almost perverse delight that most historians appear to derive from His works were both informative and amusing, with making their essays as incomprehensible as possible Taylor drawing upon his journalistic experience as (a sad fact which often leads many bemused students a foreign affairs correspondent for the Manchester to seek the comfort of the bottle); Taylor’s clear and Guardian to combine historical analysis with humour narrative driven historical analyses and articles were and wit; a winning combination. In short, he was renowned for conveying complicated and often undoubtedly the most influential and important British historian of the 20th Century. controversial ideas easily.

The Marxist influenced scholar enjoyed his status as Want to find out more about Taylor? Turn to page 15 being “The People’s Historian”, a title gained from his for a review of his lecture series. extensive television interviews and documentaries on the BBC as well as legendary lectures delivered at

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Spotlight on your city

When Rolls met Royce A local event with a global impact.

Jemma Gibson Take a walk up the steps to the Midland Hotel on Peter Street and look to your right. There you’ll see a sculpture and plaque dedicated to the most significant meeting to have ever taken place there.

The list of celebrities, worthies and even royalty who have frequented the Midland goes on and on, but the visit by Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Royce in 4th May 1904 undoubtedly marked the start of a new era for the automotive industry. It was here that they decided to make ‘the best car in the world’.

accident. He brought experience in the automobile trade to the table, having established one of the first car dealerships in Britain in 1903.

Royce was a founder and director of F.H. Royce and Company, based in Hulme, making electrical fittings, then dynamos and cranes before deciding to start making cars.

At their meeting in Manchester, Rolls was impressed by the three cars Royce had made and in December agreed to take all of the cars he made, which would be branded ‘Rolls-Royce’. The combination of Rolls’s wealth and Royce’s engineering expertise proved a success, and in 1906 Rolls-Royce Limited was established.

Today, Rolls - Royce still remains a symbol of British industry and luxury, despite being owned by BMW. Beyond the badge on the cars, the company bears Rolls was an aviator and balloonist, later gaining little resemblance to that with its roots in infamy as the first Britain to be killed in a flying Manchester and that little meeting in May 1904.

The Peterloo Massacre One of the most iconic events in the battle for universal suffrage occurred in Manchester.

Sophia White & Jonathon Holt OVERVIEW: The Peterloo Massacre was the escalation of public friction following the Napoleaonic Wars.

The massacre was given the name ‘Peterloo’ in an ironic comparison to the Battle of Waterloo, intended to mock the soldiers who attacked unarmed civilians.

It occured during a period of immense political tension and mass protests, where fewer than 2% of the population had the vote.

THE EVENT: On 16th August 1819 anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 protestors congregated to hear famed orator Henry Hunt speak in St. Peter’s Field. Hunt advocated parliamentary reform; a desire shared by the urban poor.

By the afternoon confusion and conflict between the protestors and the cavalrymen led to a charge on the people. The protestors who were, in Henry Hunt’s words, “armed with no other weapon but that of a self-approving conscience” suffered 11 deaths, and upwards of 400 injured participants in the process.

LEGACY: Historians acknowledge that Peterloo was hugely influential in ordinary people winning the right the vote, it highlighted the desire of the ordinary man to be active in politics, led to the rise of the Chartist Movement, and also resulted in the establishment of the Manchester Guardian newspaper.

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Spotlight on your city

Manchester’s hidden history A look at our city’s historical hotspots

Anthony Burgess Famous for being the author of the dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange, Burgess grew up in Moss Side. In 2008, The Times placed him number 17 on their list of ‘The 50 Greatest Authors Since 1945’.

Alice McArdle, David Gardner & Hannah Hyndman Top of the Pops The very first edition was broadcast from a converted church studio in Rusholme on New Year’s Day 1964.

The Football League 1888 The Royal Buildings in Piccadilly Gardens, which are currently home to Burger King and Primark, witnessed the formal foundation of the football league. The league was formerly named and created in the Royal Buildings where 12 clubs were organised into the first league.

The world’s first programmable computer 1948 Created at the Victoria University of Manchester, the computer would not resemble what we consider one to be today. It was the basis from which the Ferranti Mark 1 was built, which was the world’s first commercially available computer.

Did you know..?

Manchester Ship Canal Built from 1887-1894, at a cost of £15 million (£1.27 billion as of today). Before the canal was built goods had to be transported by road or rail to Liverpool docks where tolls and harbour dues were reducing profitability. The canal’s creation started a rivalry between the cities.

The Free Trade Hall It was once a political centre but in June 1976 The Sex Pistols played an influential gig to a crowd of about 40 people who included a young Morrisey and both the future Joy Division and Buzzcocks, who would put the Manchester music scene on the map.

Commonwealth Games 2002 The main venue for the Games was the City of Manchester Stadium which was purpose built for the Games and hosted all the athletics events and the opening ceremonies. The stadium formed the centrepiece of an area known as Sportcity. The Aquatics Centre was also purpose built for the games.

IRA bombing 1996 The IRA detonated a bomb in the Manchester Arndale Shopping Centre, injuring 200 people. The bomb destroyed the area which is now occupied by Selfridges and Marks and Spencers. The bombing led to regeneration of the nearby area with the creation of The Printworks and the Triangle.

Chetham’s library The revolutionary Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels met one another in the alcove of its reading room in July and August 1845.

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The Romans

Hero or Zero?

This temper is evident in his personal life: murdering both his mother and mistress. He seemed determined to live a life of excess but it seems necessary to ask was he really a genuinely bad creature or a simply victim of circumstance and blood line?

Emperor Nero is as infamous for his brutal measures and unstable mental health as his politics. But what about the man himself? The Manchester Historian sets out to uncover the man behind the madness.

Although mainly remembered for his cruelty, it ought Eleanor Johnson not to be forgotten that Nero inspired architects and writers during his reign. Nero was very much a “What an artist dies in me?” The famous last words supporter of culture and artists – his last words of Emperor Nero: an individual so convinced of his suggest he considered himself one of them. talents that he thought his death was a tragedy for Certainly, Nero’s involvement in architecture within mankind – not a man known for his modesty.

Ancient Rome was one of his few triumphs.

He may have been convinced of his own worth but historians have crowned him the dubious honour of “worst emperor of all time”. His dramatic last words befit an individual who led an extraordinary life – whether he was causing fires, ordering his mother’s demise (which he managed on the third attempt), kicking his pregnant wife to death or winning chariot competitions he didn’t even participate in – it quickly becomes apparent how Nero earned his bad reputation.

The people of the Roman Empire could only deal with Nero’s cruelty for so long and in the year 68 Nero faced a rebellion caused by his tax policies. In the face of a rebellion he could not defeat Nero committed suicide. Emperor Nero will always be remembered for his egotistical nature and scandalous personal life.

In the end it is his vices and scandal which makes him immortal.

Probably one of the more humorous elements of Nero’s personality was the fact that he fancied himself as a singer. As he became more and more interested in music he became convinced that he himself had musical qualities of genius. So blinded by his own narcissism, he was sure he was Rome’s answer to Pavarotti. And (unfortunately for Rome) Nero’s attitude was if you’ve got it flaunt it, and boy did he flaunt it! The saying “the show must go on” springs to mind when thinking of Nero’s performances, he continued through, what he considered minor interruptions, such as earthquakes.

Nero was a regular on the competition circuit, despite his performances often resembing something close to a bad X-factor audition. Some audience members even pretended to die so they could be carried out without offending the delicate Nero.

The term “hot tempered” is an understatement to say the least, he was alleged to have burned down parts of Rome and blamed it on the Christians – a fiery temperament indeed.

Did you know... although Nero famously

‘fiddled while Rome burned’ this is in fact just a rumour, with the fiddle not being invented for another thousand years.

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The Romans

Pompeii; not so different Studying the relics of Pompeii has uncovered evidence providing not only a window into the past, but also a reflection of the present.

Steve Jones When reading about history, it’s easy to forget about the ordinary person on the street. That is, unless you are looking at Pompeii. The perfectly preserved Roman ruin contains so much evidence of normal people doing the things we still do every day that it reveals a past not so different from our present.

Consider that famous fresco of the man and woman. They’re probably recently married. The man is holding a rolled up parchment - it bares striking resemblance to a graduation picture such as we will have at the end of university. It looks just like a family photo you might have on your mantelpiece.

There are also wine jars that have been found that bear the pun Vesuvinum, combining the word Vesuvius with vinum, for wine. Kind of like KP peanut’s slogan, ‘pure snacktivity’. You almost expect the wine jar to have a Sainsbury’s basics-esque

slogan: ‘Not as good as Rome’s, still tops off a meal!’

The house of a trading company has written on the floor at the entrance ‘Salve, Lucru’, translating to ‘welcome, money’. Businesses seem to have had a lot more self-deprecating humour about them than they do today. I doubt Primark would write on its floor, ‘welcome, cheap child labour’.

On the exterior of the House of Menander, there is graffiti that reads ‘Satura was here on September 3rd’.

It’s such a stereotypically youthful thing to do, and still goes on all the time today. Have a look on the web for the slightly ruder, brothel-related snippets.

When you read about things like ‘peasants’ and ‘slaves’, they can mash together in your mind as an indistinguishable mass. Pompeii provides a fantastic eyeglass on the individual’s life in the Roman Empire, and it turns out that we had a lot in common all along.

A brief history of Pompeii 600/700 BC Pompeii founded by the Oscans

24th August 79 AD Vesuvius erupts, obliterating Pompeii and its sister city Herculaneum. The eruption released a hundred thousand times the thermal energy emitted by the Hiroshima bombing

Pompeii prospers, in the ensuring centuries, with population reaching 20,000 by 79 AD

1599 AD After centuries forgotten under rubble, Pompeii is unearthed accidentally

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The “Phallacy” of Pompeii The eruption of Pompeii is one of classical civilisation’s most documented events. This article uncovers the secret sexuality embedded in Roman society Michael Butterworth

When the excavation of Pompeii began in earnest in the 18th Century alongside the various wonders uncovered came a number of artefacts that greatly worried the gentleman archeologists.

They had uncovered a great number of extraordinary and risqué sexual images, phallic objects ranging from carvings to wind chimes.

Many of these items were deemed inappropriate for display and this situation was formalized when the ‘Secret Museum’ was established in 1819 in Naples, locking explicit items together and away from ‘unsuitable’ persons.

The segregation and prohibiting of these finds in reality re-eroticized these artefacts divorcing them from their original context. This has perhaps helped to fuel our modern conception of Roman society as sex obsessed and even debauched.

However, perhaps this reflects more our own societal preoccupations than it gives a true picture of Roman life.

1860 AD Systematic excavations begin on Pompeii

It is perhaps unsurprising that the only definite brothel in Pompeii is also its most popular tourist attraction. But the reality perhaps does not fit with our preconceptions and is much less glamorous, with just a few rooms, small and dark, virtually prison cells.

While the modern reaction to the erotic in Pompeii, one of horror coupled with fascination, points to our own preoccupations, these images do provide some insight into the Roman world. The preeminence of phallic imagery coupled with images of male fantasy, point to a society dominated not by sex, but by men.

In many of the artefacts, and in much of the architecture, these images portray an erotic world geared for the pleasure of men, sex is power and through its image what it is clearly displayed is the male dominance of the sexual sphere and the masculine nature of Rome. Pompeii offers many wonderful insights into the Roman world and indeed our own.

For more information on this topic I recommend the wonderful Radio 4 programme ‘Secret Museum’ available through BBC online.

Present day Pompeii is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, attracting around 2.6 million visitors a year

1995 AD Area around Vesuvius declared a national park

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The Romans

10 things you never knew about the Romans Alexis Pantelides, Florence Holmes, Juliette Donaldson and Frankie Williams

I.

The Romans used powdered mouse brains as toothpaste.

II.

Julius Caesar gave us our modern calendar of 12 months. Originally there were only 10 months, running from March to December, but then they added two more. This meant that September (from the Latin for seven) became the 9th month. October (from the Latin for eight) is now the 10th. This is shown also in November (nine) and December (10).

III.

Sometimes, if Roman parents didn’t like their children, they sold them to be slaves.

IV.

Emperor Caligula (AD 12 – AD 41) made his favourite horse Incitatus not only a Roman citizen but also a member of the Senate.

V.

The Romans needed solid foundations for a lighthouse at the mouth of the River Tiber near Rome. So they sank a ship loaded with lentils and built the lighthouse on top of it.

VI.

The Romans started the marital tradition of dressing brides in white and the groom carrying the wife over the threshold of their new home.

VII.

Alongside their more famous ingenuity, the Romans also invented: caesarians, the postal system, street lighting, steam engines and umbrellas.

vomitorium was not a room where Romans vomited in order to continue eating.

VIII. AIt was the passage through which the crowds could enter and leave the amphitheatre.

IX.

While the toga was predominantly associated with free-born Roman citizens; it was also worn by prostitutes; who were deemed unfit to wear the traditional female garment; the stolas.

X.

When the Romans built Hadrian’s wall, a moat was built not only around the outside of the wall, but also around the inside. The exact purpose of the inside moat has never been determined, as only a few years later the Romans decided to fill it in. This cost them a million days of pointless labour.

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Staff Section

Interview with Dr Max Jones Katerina Vlkova & Christopher MacMahon Dr. Max Jones is a senior lecturer in Modern History at the University of Manchester. His research and teaching focuses primarily on nineteenth- and twentieth-century British history, with particular interest, among others, in heroism, gender and masculinity; monarchy, empire and national identity; and exploration and technology. We interviewed Max to uncover what history means to him.

When did your interest in history begin?

I think my love of history came from my family really; my dad was very interested in history, and studied history at University. This interest also came from the combination of being read stories and visiting places of historical interest. From my childhood, I remember loving being read stories that had a context in history, such as the Greek myths or stories about the Vikings.

We’d visit castles in Wales on holiday, such as Harlech and Conway, while I was living in London. Although in my academic life I’ve focused on modern history, my initial interest came from exciting adventure stories from earlier periods.

Is that why you did the research on the British explorer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, and his Antarctic mission?

When my book about Captain Scott came out in 2003 I did various interviews, and one of them asked me to think about which books I’d enjoyed as a child. I hadn’t really thought about it before, and made the connection between the stories I loved as a child and why I was drawn to studying this mythic story of Scott of the Antarctic, which has a classic quest narrative structure. My kids are 8 and 11 now, and I’ve read them some of the books that were read to me and they’ve also really enjoyed them! More by accident than design, my interest in Scott has been rejuvenated over the last 18 months by a series of speaking invitations, not least to a conference on Antarctic visions in Tasmania.

How did you end up coming to Manchester?

I went through a series of posts at Cambridge - I was a post-graduate student, then I had a junior research fellowship and then a teaching fellowship, as Director of Studies at Christ’s College. I’d just had my contract renewed at Cambridge for another 3 years, but didn’t want to get trapped in that particular job where you’re very much a teaching workhorse. I’m thankful a post at Manchester came up at the right time. People often don’t appreciate how few jobs are available in academia; each year there are only a handful of positions that come up in your field, so your choices are very limited. We tell our PhD students not to be too picky! You have to apply for everything and seize opportunities when they present themselves.

I wanted to go to a university that had a dynamic research culture, and Manchester was attractive as the department had a real strength in the sort of cultural history that I’m interested in. Manchester definitely seemed to have a real strength in this field, with a pioneering MA in Cultural History which is still going strong.

Why do you think it’s so important that future generations continue to study history?

It’s always struck me that you cannot understand the world around you unless you understand where that world came from. Having some awareness of history is an essential prerequisite for having some political awareness, and what you find is that in times of austerity and conflict such awareness rises. At the moment we have very real and sharp disagreements about how to fund universities and what role the state should play in education; these questions have a history themselves. It is also essential to see the historical roots of the current unrest in Libya, the Middle-East and Palestine. There are global conflicts and disagreements and to understand them, and certainly if you want to intervene in these conflicts, you have to understand their history. There are many people who have read or been touched by Captain Scott’s story, and one of the aims of my research is to show how Captain Scott’s story was part of the broader history of the British empire.

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Staff Section

Staff News Many History staff promote the value of history beyond the academy, and this page will let you know some of the things were up to outside the university.

In addition to teaching, all History staff engage in research and publication. Recent highlights include: - Leif Jerram, Streetlife: The Untold History of Europe’s Twentieth Century (Oxford UP, 2011) - Peter Gatrell, Free World? The Campaign to Save the World’s Refugees, 1956–1963 (Cambridge UP, 2011).

Frank Mort gave talks to the Sohemian Society and the Gays the Word Bookshop in January and February about his new book, Capital Affairs (Yale UP, 2010).

Chris Godden has been interviewed on the decline of the cotton industry for a new BBC Radio Manchester documentary on the city’s history, which will be broadcast in April.

Ana Carden Coyne gave a public lecture ‘Venus in Satin: Fashion, Dance and the Modern Erotic Body’ at the Sydney Festival in January. Google - Coyne “venus in satin” - to check out the MP3.

Max Jones appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live with Tony Livesey in March to chat about defining moments of the twentieth century. He is also currently working on a documentary about Scott of the Antarctic with the BBC. Leif Jerram is on Radio 4’s Thinking Aloud on 6th April talking about how cities shape our lives in all sorts of ways we don’t realise. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer.

Charlotte Wildman attracted a large public audience to Withington Library in March to speak about ‘Women, Shopping and Citizenship in Manchester Between The Wars’. The talk was filmed

by MA War, Culture & History student Daniel Harrison and History PhD student Ben Knowles.

MA students on the WCH programme film documentaries, which will be screened at the Imperial War Museum – North in the autumn. Watch this space for further details!

Hannah Barker has been working hard on the Manchester City Council Strategy Group to promote the history of Manchester and its region. She’s on the committee which decides who gets a commemorative plaque.

Staff Trivia How well do you know your lecturers? Test yourself with the trivia, and see that there’s more to academia then just books!

Which stalwart of the Manchester History Department is a competitive tennis player?

You’ll never guess, so here’s a clue: We are the Knights who say NI(ck).

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4 Days and 2 Nights Trip to Amsterdam!

This trip will take place from the 11th - 14th June and is ONLY £70 FOR WESTON HALL RESIDENTS! YES £70 for the hotel, coach to and back and more! Even better - this will take place right after the exams and the weather will be nice and hot! Non-Weston Hall residents are also welcome for the full price of £125 which is not bad at all! It is definately a great experience and other universities, societies and halls will be there.

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The History, Classics and PMH Ball

Upendo

From the timeless style of Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, get ready to get dressed up to the nines for an evening of dancing, decadence and more! We are rolling out the red carpet and pulling out all the stops for this year’s ball... It’s going to be big. We want to celebrate the end of this year in style.

Upendo is a student run Charity started and based at the University of Manchester. We aim to build a sustainable, ethical and community integrated children’s home in Mwanza, Tanzania, and have almost DATE: Sunday 15th May - keep it free! finished the first building. We are LOCATION: This year’s event will be staged at the 4 * Renaissance looking for people to help run the Hotel right in the centre of town. charity, organise fundraisers, and TICKETS: £40 volunteer (for free) in Tanzania. Find us on Facebook, at www.upendo.org.

This includes: uk, or contact Carly, Matt and James **Champagne Reception at enquiries@upendo.org.uk. **4 course meal Want to write for the Manchester **Half a bottle of wine Historian? **Jazz band **Fun casino E-mail: florence.holmes@student.

And many more surprises on the night! manchester.ac.uk before the end Non-historians/classics/PMH are welcome too so feel feel to of the Easter holidays and we’ll let bring your friends along! Pick out your ball gowns and dust off you know about our next meeting. those dinner jackets and get ready for a fabulous night of food, Next issue is going to be even bigger and better, so get involved! music, entertainment and glamour!

Want to advertise in the next issue? E-mail juliette.donaldson@student.manchester.ac.uk

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Reviews

The Manchester Museum

You walk past it every day, but what lies behind the wall of the Manchester Museum, and what is the story behind that infamous crab?

Priya Changela & Peter Cakebread There are many urban myths surrounding Manchester. It’s been said that Hitler had admired the Midlands Hotel in St Peter’s Square so much that he was willing to make it the headquarters for Nazi occupation in the North West.

Equally, there are many myths surrounding the University of Manchester Museum. One of the first things heard, as a fresher, was that the giant spider crab, which has become something close to a university mascot, originated from the sewers of Manchester after a ‘toxic spill’. Actually, it came from Japan in the early twentieth century.

But the myth became part of an identity, and in this way the crab has become an integral part of the university. Likewise, what we discovered is that the museum is a symbol of the university and city.

It originated in 1821 thanks to the Manchester Natural History Society and moved to the university in 1868. The museum has local as well as international connections. With the 2012 London Olympics approaching, a series of displays from different cultures are touring Britain with the intention of improving cultural diversity.

Manchester is currently the lucky recipient of the China collection. Behind the exhibition lies an undertone of cultural connections and diplomatic relations between Manchester and China.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a chime bell donated by the municipal government of Wuhan, Manchester’s sister city in China. 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the friendship agreement signed by the two cities in 1986. With artefacts ranging from the Shang to the Ming Dynasties visitors can see a variety of objects culminating from China’s wide and varied history.

The beauty and variety of the Chinese culture comes out most prominently in the shadow puppets or the porcelain flutes.

As anyone living on the route between Edinburgh and Manchester in 1872 will testify, the origins of the centerpiece of the Natural History section are as weird as they are unique. After being bought by Belle Vue Zoo, Mahajarah, the Indian elephant was unable to travel by train and set off by foot across Scotland and Northern England to Manchester.

After ten days he reached Manchester and, after ten years of service to the zoo, died and was donated to the Museum. He is flanked by a collection of materials from throughout the natural world cleverly and attractively annotated in an exam shorthand style.

Manchester’s large Bantu speaking community are depicted through the palm leaf baskets and ivory tusks of the Congo. These day to day cultural objects are a depiction of the greater theme of migration and are intended to relate to the history of the people living in Manchester.

Following the natural history collection is the Egyptian section. This includes a number of Mummies, with the exposed feet of a four thousand-year-old Egyptian, providing a reminder of the humanity of the corpse. Not to be outdone the next section presents the visitor with the full-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex ‘Stan’, probably the most impressive predator of all time. But for size the Sperm Whale probably steals the award for the most substantial exhibit.

If being face to face with some of the greatest creatures and most beautiful creations in the history of the planet appeals then the museum is a genuinely enjoyable place to go. However, it is not these attention-grabbing exhibits that best represent the museum. From weapons used by the Native Americans to a collection of extinct birds, this museum seems to offer a physical manifestation of the history and diversity of the University and City of Manchester. Perhaps it is in this way that it offers the greatest interest to the Manchester historian.

15.

the Manchester Historian

Taylor lecture series A review of the engaging lecture series fronted

by Manchester’s most famous history professor Adam Collins

The first thing to notice when watching a televised lecture by AJP Taylor is how different the style of this history programme is when compared with the historical programmes on today.

Minimalism rules, with a plain black background and the lecturer the only objects in shot for 30 minutes. No music and no cutaway scenes, maps or illustrations. This may look out of date and perhaps a little tedious at first glance, stick with it though

The King’s Speech

and the content and language of the lecturer is very accessible and Taylor is a likeable and engaging presenter.

The lectures were hugely popular at the time and this must be down in no small part to Taylor himself, who manages to come across as sincere, yet also affable and endearing at the same time.

After watching the piece I felt as though I had just been involved in an interesting, short lecture and it left me wondering if this series was on today whether it would be as popular as it once was. Those with a free half-hour to spare could do a lot worse than giving it a try.

Series available on BBC iPlayer.

The oscar winning picture that gives history a voice.

Jack Kelly

Firth’s moving portrayal of the relatively untold story of one man, George IV (Bertie), trapped not just by his own stammer, but also by accident of birth in his attempts to overcome his speech impediment and win the affections of an Empire he was never supposed to rule.

It’s a story made for Hollywood: one shy younger prince, another playboy-like elder brother. Throw in a social climbing American divorcee, an abdication crisis and a war that would test a nation and its reluctant new monarch to the edge, it’s not difficult to see how The King’s Speech won this year’s Best Film Oscar.

The film appears to have avoided much of the temptation for Hollywood dramatisation to recreate for the most part an accurate and moving portrayal of one of the most remarkable and forgotten episodes of British history, a story that, in itself, is worth an Oscar.

See the King’s Speech at the cinema now.

Horrible Histories

The episode I watched focused on numerous periods in History such as Cavemen, Romans, Tudors and more. The show is clever in that it offers We all remember the children’s books, but short but information filled segments about each what will a history undergraduate make of the period whilst avoiding the style of an educational television series?? film, you may see in a classroom. Instead it uses a Eamonn O’Brien mixture of animation and acting to inject humour, action, a bit of gore and at one point singing to As historians I think we can all remember our really draw in the audience. childhood bookshelves filled with Horrible Histories; from the Rotten Romans to the I have to admit I enjoyed watching the show, which Shocking 60’s. We enjoyed them because they made I hope says more about the programme than about history accessible beyond the classroom, free from me, and I’m sure it will attract many more young, homework and nagging teachers! Now, a new budding historians into not just studying but generation of historians can merely sit back and enjoying History on the whole. gain some of this experience by watching it on CBBC. Episodes available on BBC iPlayer

16.

the Manchester Historian

Procrastination puzzle page Bored in the library? Want to put off doing that seminar reading for just a few more minutes?

Then look no further! Get off Facebook and have a crack at our wordsearch, themed for this issue. Then, to put you back in that working mindset, have a look at the staff helpful hints for essay success.

E C Y AJP TAYLOR HORRIBLE HISTORIES O R MANCHESTER S MAX JONES L MUSEUM L NERO O PETERLOO R POMPEII PROTEST Z ROLLS ROYCE U ROMANS G SAMUEL ALEXANDER N THE KINGS SPEECH P T S

H P T T M V M A X J O N E S S E H

B C Q Y E W Y I Y T X C J E I R N

M E E L H D J Y G F X Y T R L E A

A B P E W R R S M C K O O O R D H

U E L I P U J G Z W R T M O M N K

G I U P G S W J W P S P Z X A A B

U N K D Y B S F E I H W N M A X B

S K Z Y Z R L G H V P F A N J E G

P Y Q Q J B J E N Q L N P R P L Q

E E J I N V L W I I C X B T T A F

S T T J D B X K I H K W Z T A L D

E N Z E I P Q S E G J E T Y Y E R

E F A R R G B S P K B P H B L U Q

S U R M L L T K M L S P P T O M Q

D O E E O E O A O L B D N B R A X

H Y I L R R W O P M U E S U M S S

Staff Top Tips: The JRUL subscribes to a great range of electronic resources, many of which are underused by students.

Have you used OXFORD REFERENCE ONLINE? (JRUL > Databases > O)?

This database gives you access to over 100 reference works published by Oxford University Press, from the Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages to the Oxford Companion to British History.

If a lecturer’s mentioned something you want to follow up, use OXFORD REFERENCE ONLINE: “Who were the Lollards?” “When did Britain leave the Gold Standard?” etc.

Great, too, for getting background information for your essays.

And all the entries have citation references, which you can copy and paste into your work!