The Norman Conquest and Anglo-Saxon Literacy

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THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH ISSUE 3 SPRING/SUMMER 2008

PAST AND FUTURE

The Norman Conquest and Anglo-Saxon literacy

Charters ratied by knives

Achievement under duress

POWs who sat University of London external examinations

Tall buildings in the London landscape

Making the complex city intelligible

What I know now that I wish Id known then

David Cannadine in conversation with the History Lab


2/162 Past and Future www.history.ac.uk

I want to use this regular Letter to launch

a new project. I will have retired from

the post of Director of the IHR and taken

up the position of Professor of MedievalHistory at the University of East Anglia

by the time this magazine is published.

This is effectively an enforced change

brought about by the invitation to give the

Ford Lectures in the University of Oxford

in 200910; many hours of hard thought

having convinced me that I just could

not continue to do justice to the very

serious responsibilities of remaining as

Director and at the same time full what

is in practice a requirement to write an

unanticipated book. These hours have

also involved deep thought about my

long, close association with the IHR, an

involvement which began in 1967 and

which will continue after I formally cease

to be Director.

Those with memories for such detail

will know that I often refer to that rst

1967 visit in the speeches of welcome

which I give to postgraduates and those

appointed to IHR fellowships. These

repeated references are founded not just

in a professional belief that working at theIHR in the Library, attending its seminars

and conferences, and becoming involved

in its many projects are of great value

to the vast majority of historians, but

in an unqualied personal attachment

to the place. The foundation of that

attachment is the knowledge that I would

not have had achieved what I believe I

have achieved in my career from 1967

to the present without the IHR. And in

the knowledge that that achievement

would not have been possible without thesupport I have received from some very

special friends made at the IHR and from

some superb IHR colleagues.

My IHR colleagues have many massive

achievements to their credit over the

period that I have been Director. Some

are described in this magazine; many

of them in previous issues and in our

Annual Reports. It is a source of intense

pride that I have been associated with

them as Director over the last ve years.

It is similarly a source of intense pride

to have been the public representative

of this world-renowned Institute, to have

met with many of its Friends and friends

worldwide, and to have been involved

in the continuation of activities, some

of which date back to the foundation in

1921, and in the development of so many

exciting new projects.

I hope that I may be forgiven for

concluding this Letter by referring back

to that visit of 1967 and exploring a

little further its personal implications. I

came to the IHR as a research student

at a provincial university (Exeter). For

someone from what was then a small

postgraduate community at some

distance from London, those rst visits

to the IHR represented my baptism into

the mainstream of the UKs historical life.

Over the years that have followed I did

work of fundamental importance at the

IHR, above all towards the completion

of the books and articles which I believe

to constitute my chief contribution to

scholarship. IHR seminars, above all

the Early Medieval, have supplied

intellectual stimulus and a necessary

critical examination of some at times

half-baked ideas. IHR publications

have supplied information of crucial

importance. Friendships have been made

in the Common Room and major projectsdeveloped there.

This is a road which I want to help others

to follow quite simply because I believe

it to be a benecial one for all historians

involved in what we nowadays call Early

Career Development. I also believe

that it is a highly desirable infusion into

the great intellectual powerhouse of the

historical community of the University

of London and its constituent Colleges

and of the south-east of England asa whole. I am therefore forgoing the

traditional leaving present in favour of

the establishment of a fund to support

bursaries for short visits to the IHR by

postgraduates and IHR junior fellows

whose universities are situated a

signicant distance from London. I shall

be making the rst payment into the

fund and I will set up a direct debit to

make regular further payments. I invite

all readers of this magazine to follow my

example.

David Bates

For further information, please contact

Samantha Jordan, samantha.jordan@

sas.ac.uk, 020 7862 8756.

Letter from the Director

Past and FutureInstitute of Historical Research

University of London

Senate House

Malet Street

London

WC1E 7HU

www.history.ac.uk

020 7862 8740

Editorial and advertising contact

Emily Morrell

[email protected]

020 7862 8780

Cover image: Stephen of Bulmers

broken knife, date 1150 x 1170.

Reproduced by permission of

Durham University Library, ref. DCD

3.1.spec.72.b. See p.6 for moreinformation.

The national centre for history


3/16www.history.ac.uk Past and Future 3

2 Letter from the Director

4 IHR newsVictoria Country History awards local history prizeNew book explores 1001 years of migration in Bristol1807 CommemoratedVictoria County History celebrates 75 years at the IHR

Administering the Empire: new publication from theIHR and The National Archives

Historical Research forthcoming articlesThe best of Low

6 The Norman Conquest and Anglo-Saxonliteracy Michael Clanchy takes a fresh look at the effects of theNorman Conquest

8 Achievement under duressSamantha Letters discusses her research into POWswho sat University of London external degrees

10 Tall buildings in the London landscape: ahistorical and contemporary symposium Peter Guillery reviews the event

12 What I know now that I wish Id known then David Cannadine in conversation with the History Lab

13 British History Online Jonathan Blaney lists the latest developments14 Research training courses

Reviews in History Oliver Blaiklock updates us on the latest activities15 Events diary Whats on at the IHR in the next few months

Contents

Timelinebecomes Past and Future

Past and Future is the name of the magazine which has been sent to the Friends of the IHR for many years. From 2008, it ismerging with Timeline to form one single magazine to be read by everyone connected with the IHR members, staff, visitors,seminar speakers and attendees as well as Friends. We welcome the Friends of the IHR to this new incarnation of Past and Futureand would be happy to hear comments and suggestions about its content.



NewsNews

A new local history prize,sponsored by Oval Projectsand run jointly by the VictoriaCounty History and HistoryTodaymagazine, has beenawarded to a project exploringthe history of Deaf people in

Wolverhampton.

Unheard stories willresearch and record theexperiences of Deaf peopleliving, working and studyingin Wolverhampton andwho use sign language tocommunicate. The projecthopes to promote a greaterunderstanding of Deaf cultureand history across the widercommunity by producing anexhibition and DVD featuring

local Deaf people.

Project co-ordinator Linda Ellissaid This award has allowedus to involve Deaf pupils from

The IHR hascollaborated with theInstitute for the PublicUnderstanding of thePast at the University

of York to produce awebsite called 1807Commemorated.

This new site looks athow the bicentenary ofthe abolition of slaverywas commemoratedin 2007. It includesarticles by historians,interviews with museum practitioners, and reports on theaudience reception of the commemoration.

www.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated/

A groundbreaking new book,which looks at 1001 years ofmigration in one of Englands

most diverse cities, waslaunched this month at anevent attended by the LordMayor of Bristol.

Bristol: Ethnic Minorities

and the City 10002001

provides new insights into theexperiences of the peoplewho have made Bristol theirhome, from medieval Jewsto the modern-day asylumseeker. This richly illustratedbook seeks to bear witness to

their many stories and beginsto piece together how these

migrants have affected thecitys own sense of itself.

Trevor Philips, Chair of theEquality and Human RightsCommission, and author ofthe books foreword, stated:

This is a richly textured book,full of compelling humanstories, many of which havenot been published before.It should prove a valuableresource for all thoseinterested in not only howBristol, but the nation as awhole, came to be what it istoday.

This book is the third in aseries of 15 local historybooks due to be produced as

part of the Englands Past forEveryone project, which isfunded by the Heritage LotteryFund and run by the VictoriaCounty History. The seriesis published by local historyspecialist Phillimore & Co Ltd.

The book can be purchasedfrom the IHR bookshop at a10% discount.Bristol: Ethnic Minorities and

the City 10002001

ISBN 978 1 86077 477 5

Price 14.99

New book explores 1001 years ofmigration in Bristol

Victoria County History awards localhistory prize

a local school in work we aredoing to create an educationalresource for Deaf and hearingstudents. The resource willexamine the use of signlanguage through the personalexperiences of local Deaf

people. The young peoplewill be given lessons in Deafhistory and will be supportedin interviewing members ofour Deaf community to ndout at rst hand how the use

of sign language in educationhas changed over the last 70years.

The award will be matchedby Wolverhampton Arts andMuseums Service. Otherproject partners include the

British Deaf History Society,Wolverhampton Archives andLocal Studies, Zebra Uno andDeanseld School.

1807 Commemorated

Following the departure ofProfessor David Bates afterfour years as Director of theIHR (see p. 2), ProfessorDerek Keene,Leverhulme Professor ofComparative Metropolitan

History, has taken on the roleof Acting Director until a newDirector is in place.

Acting Directorfor the IHR

[email protected]



News

Generously supported by theFriends of the IHR, the LittleBig Red Bookcelebrates

75 years of the associationbetween the Victoria CountyHistory and the Institute ofHistorical Research.Lavishly illustrated withimages from VCH volumes,the book contains informationon the counties coveredby the project and a list ofgeneral editors, directors,deputy editors and

This important new guideis an introduction to therecords of British governmentdepartments responsible for

the administration of colonialaffairs, and now held in TheNational Archives of theUnited Kingdom. It covers theperiod from about 1801 to1966.

It has been planned as a user-friendly guide concentratingon the organisation of the

Administering the Empire: newpublication from the IHR and TheNational Archives

records, the information theyare likely to provide and howto use the contemporarynding aids. It also provides

an outline of the expansionof the British empire duringthe period, and discussesthe organisation of colonialgovernments.

An indispensable guide andsource of invaluable historicaldetail, Wm. Roger Louis, KerrProfessor of English Historyand Culture, University ofTexas at Austin.

Administering the Empire: A

Guide to the Colonial Ofce

Records in The National

Archives of the UK

Mandy BantonISBN: 978 1 905165 29 2PaperbackPrice 20.00Published June 2008 (jointlywith The National Archives).

Highlights from May 2008(vol. lxxxi, no. 212)For some people thisremarkable occasion is agreat, patriotic, unchangingBritish tradition, by turnsmoving and memorable,amboyant and festive,

splendid and spectacular;for others it is a deplorabledisplay of boorish behaviour,mindless nostalgia andjingoistic xenophobia Yet, despite their verydifferent verdicts, these

entrenched and contradictoryassessments of the LastNight of the Proms bothshare and assume apermanence of programmingand a constancy of purposewhich are wholly belied by thehistorical evidence.

Thus argues DavidCannadines fascinating articleThe Last Night of the Promsin historical perspective,which traces the history of

the Last Night, from thefoundation of the PromenadeConcerts in 1895 to its current

architectural editors past andpresent. The current directorof the VCH, Professor JohnBeckett, looks at the origins of

the organisation, the eventsthat led to its being taken onby the IHR, the developmentsthat have taken it into the 21stcentury, and at what the futuremight hold.As a complement to theGeneral Introduction tothe VCH (1970) and itssupplement (1990) it providesan update on the contents ofthe volumes, as well as a listof those who contributed tothem. This is rounded off witha light-hearted delve into thefascinating archives of theVCH itself, making the LittleBig Red Booka must-havefor anyone interested in localhistory.

Victoria County History celebrates 75years at the IHR

iconic status. It examines theoften contentious reception ofthis invented tradition and itsunique contribution to notionsof Britishness, both at homeand abroad.

John Beckett, director ofthe VCH, discusses Localhistory, family history andthe Victoria County History:new directions for the 21stcentury, in the light of theincreasing popularity of localhistory. Beckett looks at the

development of the role ofthe VCH, and argues that theEnglands Past for Everyoneproject (the result of a grantfrom the Heritage LotteryFund), offers the VCH theopportunity to transform itselfinto the recognised qualitystandard for local history.

Caspar Van Senden, SirThomas Sherley and theBlackamoor projectby Miranda Kaufmann

investigates the project ofa Lbeck merchant and hispatron to collect negars and

blackamoores in England andsell them in Lisbon. Ultimately,nancially unsuccessful, the

project is interpreted not aspart of a broader expulsionof black people but as anattempt by Elizabethsgovernment to fend offanother debtor with a patent.

Special Issue 200921 April 2009 sees the 500thanniversary of the death ofthe rst Tudor king, Henry

VII. Historical Research has

commissioned a special issueto mark the anniversary, withguest editor Mark Horowitz.Contributing authors willinclude Sean Cunningham,Lisa Ford, David Grummitt,Steven Gunn, James Lee,Margaret McGlyn and PennyTucker.

These articles are currentlyavailable to subscribers in ourOnline Early issue at www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/

hisr/0/0. For more information,visit our web pages atwww.history.ac.uk/historical/.

Historical Research forthcoming articles

Sir David Low (18911963)is considered the greatestpolitical cartoonist of the 20thcentury. This exhibition of hiswork (23 April7 June 2008)includes over 60 original

cartoons from before the FirstWorld War to the early 1960s.Many of the originals on showinclude Lows most famouscreations Colonel Blimp andthe TUC Carthorse. Theexhibition will also coincidewith the launch of a bookentitled Low and the Dictators.

The Political Cartoon Gallery,32 Store Street, LondonWC1E 7BS, is open Mondayto Friday 9.30am5.30pm

and on Saturdays [email protected]

The best of Low




The Norman Conquest andAnglo-Saxon literacy

Michael Clanchy, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at theIHR, takes a fresh look at the effects of the Norman Conquest

I begin my book From Memory to WrittenRecord(rst published in 1979) with the

Norman Conquest, when King Williamdecided to bring the conquered peopleunder the rule of written law. This impliesthat before 1066 the Anglo-Saxons hadno developed literate culture. Certainly

this became ofcial orthodoxy in the 12thcentury. The lawbook from the 1180sascribed to the Justiciar Ranulf Glanvillbegins by declaring that English lawsare not written down. The rst chapter

of From Memory to Written Recordbroadly accepts this Norman viewpoint.Domesday Book demonstrates inunprecedented detail how the Normansimposed their form of written record onthe conquered people village by village.But I now think that I was as beguiledin 1979 by Norman rhetoric as manyhistorians before me. It was not any

lack of literacy in England which causedthe Normans to make Domesday Book.Rather, it was the fact that many Anglo-Saxon administrative documents wereroutinely written in English, whereasthe normal language of record in thewest was Latin because this is what the

Roman Empire and the Roman Churchhad established.

Old English literature has alwaysbeen valued and studied, whereas itis only in the last 30 years or so thatthe administrative achievements of the

Anglo-Saxon kingdom from King Alfredonwards have come to be appreciatedin all their variety. Alfred had asked:Consider now, if your lords letter andhis seal came to you, whether youcould say that you could not recognizehim by this means. James Campbell,Susan Kelly, Simon Keynes, KathrynLowe, Patrick Wormald and many otherscholars have argued that the evidence,fragmentary and awkward as it oftenis, points to a wide use of documentsin the vernacular before 1066, not onlyat the exalted level of royal writs but

locally across the country. At rst theNormans accepted what they found andWilliam the Conqueror issued writs inEnglish like his predecessors. Accordingto the chronicler Orderic Vitalis he evenattempted to learn English himself. Butwhen Lanfranc arrived as archbishop of

Canterbury in 1070, the written languageof admininstration soon changed fromEnglish to Latin. He was a lawyer andreformer in the Roman mould, who didnot conceal his distrust of vernacularculture. However, the Normans couldnot make the English switch languages

overnight. The conquerors thereforefound themselves in an awkward positionin establishing titles to property, aslegal testimony continued to be given inEnglish. How could the new landlordsknow whether it was reliable?

A writ from William the Conqueror toLanfranc shows how the Normans dealtwith this problem. It concerns the chartersof the abbot of Ely and it probably datesfrom around the time of the Domesdaysurvey in 1086. Lanfranc is orderedto nd out who had the abbots lands

written down and sworn (scribi et jurariin Latin). How were they sworn? Whoswore to them? Who heard the oath ofthe jury? Which lands are these? Howbig are they and how many are there?What are they called and who holdsthem? Lanfranc is to have the answers toall these questions distinctly noted andwritten down. Do it, William concludesin characteristically peremptory fashion,so that I know the truth about this quicklyby a letter from you. This writ showsthat even when there were written titlesto property, a jury examined the details.

Because disputes had continued at Ely,Lanfranc was ordered to write all theanswers down again and conrm the

truth about this by yet another letter.

You do the swearing, we do the writing(I have reversed the scribi et jurariinthe writ to Lanfranc to make the processclear) was the way the Normans ratied

their conquest of England. Existingdocumentary evidence was not ignored,but it was subjected to scrutiny. InDomesday Book the information is sodetailed that the jurors may well have haddocuments in front of them. Nevertheless,any information they got from thesedocuments had to be rechecked andchannelled through their sworn testimony.

Reproduced by permission of Durham University Library, ref. DCD 3.1.spec.72.b.

Stephen of Bulmers broken

knife, date 1150 x 1170

Attached to the horn handle of

the knife is a label explaining

that Stephens wife, Cecily, andAschetin their steward came

with it to the Holy Island [of

Lindisfarne], and there theyoffered to God and St Cuthberts

monks the chapel of Lowick and

its tithes. The inscription on thehandle, Signum de capella de

Lowic, makes clear that the knifeitself is the sign or proof of this

transaction.




The jurors voiced this in English becausethey had to speak the truth from theirhearts. Their truth (this would later becalled their verdict veredictum in Latin)overrode all previous evidence, whetherwritten or oral, because it was publiclyand collectively sworn on the Gospels oron saints relics. The immediate recordingof these verdicts was essential for the

Norman government. How enough clerkswere found to do this is something ofa mystery, as they had to be able totranslate numerous technical detailsabout land tenure from spoken Englishand then write them down in Latin. Thisprocess was itself a form of dominationas the Latin record was treated asauthoritative: Domesday Book was thebook of judgements.

Through the jury process the Normansprivileged orality as the way to reach thetruth, yet at the same time they overcame

the impermanence of speech, as theEnglish verdicts were converted into Latinrecords for their exclusive use. This led toa revolution in government, when muchthe same process created the pipe rollsof the Exchequer (where each sheriff hadto swear to the veracity of his accounts)and the plea rolls of the royal courts. Byconverting the vernacular testimony ofthousands of juries into Latin documents,the Normans discovered a new path frommemory to written record. Their usesof writing proved so powerful becausethey were ambivalent; they reachedback to traditional orality and forward togovernment by bureaucracy. They cameto believe that they ruled England by right

of conquest. This is my warrant!, theEarl Warenne is reported to have claimed

two centuries later, when he exhibitedin court his ancestors rusty sword from1066. Similarly in 1069 at WinchesterWilliam the Conqueror declared: Thatshow land ought to be given!, when heused a knife as the sign of his gift and injest gave it to the abbot as if making todrive it into the palm of his hand. Durhamcathedral has preserved from the 12thcentury two documents ratied by knives

of this sort (pictured) and a third onesurvives at Trinity College, Cambridge.

In From Memory to Written RecordI

thought Warennes rusty sword and theknives ratifying charters signied the

death throes of an age-old oral culture inEngland. I now think the Normans were

being far more subtle and self-conscious.Centuries earlier the Franks had asserted

their ideology of conquest over theliterate presumptions of the RomanEmpire by refusing to sign their nameson Latin charters. Instead, they ratiedthem with knives and other traditionalsymbols. It was perhaps because theNormans were the successors of theFranks, as Frenchmen and conquerors,that William exclaimed: Thats how landought to be given! To the chancery clerksat Winchester in 1069, who wrote thekings writs in English and ratied them

with the royal seal, Williams jocularstabbing at the abbots hand must havelooked barbaric. Although there are 50 orso references to knives ratifying chartersafter the Norman Conquest, in thelonger term this archaism proved a deadend. When in 1213 the prior of Durhamproduced in the kings court a charter witha knife tied to it, his opponent objectedthat this was contrary to the custom of therealm. By 1213, a century and a half afterthe Conquest, the productive Normaninnovation in property law had proved tobe not antiquarian Frankish lore but thejury verdicts and plea rolls of the kings

courts.

I believe the title of my book FromMemory to Written Recordremains

valid, as does its sub-title England10661307. What I did not appreciate

in 1979 was that the Normans faceda formidable challenge from Anglo-Saxon records being in English: tax andrental documents, for example, and thememoranda specifying the boundariesof estates. The conquerors reactedwith contradictory strategies: rst they

produced writs in English themselves,then they challenged the very forms ofdocumentation in charters, and nally

they found a solution through the processof You do the swearing, we do thewriting. In the enormous undertakingof putting together the evidence forDomesday Book the Normans found theirown passage from memory to writtenrecord. Government in medieval England and even down to the Reform Act of1832 was shaped by the administrativeprocedures put in place in the centuryfollowing 1066. By reacting so strongly,the Normans acknowledged the power ofAnglo-Saxon literacy, much as Frankishideology had reacted to the power ofRome ve or six centuries earlier.

Professor Clanchy will give a fuller

version of this paper at the IHRs Anglo-American Conference of Historians to

be held on 24 July 2008, the subject of

which is Communication in all its forms.

Robert of St Martins broken knife, date 1148

This chirograph gifts church lands to St Cuthbert. When the prior of Durham produced it in the kings

court in 1213 his opponent objected that, instead of a seal, the document had a knife tied to it which

can be put on or taken away. So the prior had to make a new chirograph ratied by the kings

justices.

Reproduced by permission of Durham University Library, ref. DCD 4.3.ebor.4

William the Conqueror declared:

Thats how land ought to be given!,

when he used a knife as the sign of

his gift




Achievement under duressThousands of British prisoners of war sat examinations set by theUniversity of Londons External System during the Second World

War, as Samantha Letters explains

exams from the Matriculation (the school-leaving certicate), to the Intermediate

(the rst part of a degree) and the

degree itself, in subjects includingArts, Economics, Engineering, EstateManagement, Laws, Medicine, Pharmacyand Theology. Modern languageswere popular and, given the diversenationalities incarcerated together, itwas possible to hold oral exams. Somepractical exams had to be postponed until

the POW returnedhome. Otherwise, noconcessions weremade for the POWs,who sat the sameExternal papers atthe same time asother candidatesworldwide.Examinations wererigorously invigilatedand marked,as POWs weredetermined not to beshown any favours.

The accessibilityand exibility of the

External Systemwas the key toits success. TheUniversity of Londonsent 1,305 differentpapers to POWs,21% of the 6,091papers sent out.It was the most

signicant institutioninvolved in providingexaminations forPOWs.

Another 135examining institutionsalso suppliedpapers. Of the Britishuniversities, Oxfordheld its rst exams

outside the city byproviding its Special Examination forPOWs. The Oxford exams were also

accessible to men not already enrolledwith the University, but were on asmall scale: only 17 men passed theEnglish Language and Literature paperset by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

Other universities including Durham,Edinburgh and Leeds providedexams, but limited these to their existingstudents.

Most of the examining institutions wereprofessional or trade bodies, suchas the Incorporated Sales ManagersAssociation and the Library Association.They enabled POWs to take exams indiverse subjects including accountancy,

town planning, mechanics, chiropodyand radio communications. The papers

in languages, music and brewing areunderstandable; those held by theHorse and Pony Club perhaps lessso. My favourites include the 33 menwho passed the British Bee Keepers

How did British prisoners of war (POWs)pass the time in German camps inthe Second World War? Many peopleimmediately think of escape attempts,or about time spent simply surviving,searching for food or working (for thosebelow the rank of ofcer). Whilst these

were a fundamental part of the POWexperience, pastimes however brief were also essential to camp life. Besidesmusic, drama and sports, it is well known

that POWs educated themselves throughbooks sent out by the Red Cross andby teaching each other, forming campuniversities. What is less well knownis that British POWs were able to studyfor and take examinations in the camps.Exam papers were sent out, they wereinvigilated properly and the completedpapers returned to England to be marked.This overview of my research into thisremarkable aspect of the Second WorldWar is limited to British POWs held bythe Germans in camps across OccupiedEurope.

My interest began with research Iundertook for a history of the Universityof Londons External System.1 By 1939,the External System had been operatingfor 80 years. It did not offer tuition, butsimply exams. These were availableacross Britain and indeed worldwide, tomen and women who might be at a rangeof institutions from universities to schools,or studying with the help of privatetutors, or even alone. From London,the syllabus was posted to the student,

the exam paper sent out to a localinstitution (which invigilated the examand returned the papers) and the resultsposted to the student. The success of theExternal System depended on its ownadministration, the reliability of the postalsystem and the co-operation of far-offinstitutions and governments.

Accustomed to operating at a distanceand in difcult circumstances, the

External System was ideally placedto provide education to British POWs.Interested POWs could enrol with the

External System whilst in a camp andcomplete their degree there. There wasno requirement to be a current or formerstudent of London or any other university,nor any fees to pay. POWs took External




Craftsmans exam in early 1944,including the aptly named BombardierClover and Corporal Honeyman. In 1945,ve men passed the Co-operative Union

Window Display exam in Stalag 383. AtOag XII B, 13 candidates passed First

Class the Royal Horticultural SocietySenior General Examination. Gardening,bee keeping and even, it seems, windowdressing helped ease harsh camp life.

All of the exams were dispatched bythe London External System, headedby its Registrar, Arthur Clow Ford MBE.Clow Ford was uniquely suited to thistask, having been interned in Ruhlebencamp, Germany, during the First WorldWar, where he organised exams whenthe External System extended its remitto the internees. He understood howorganised education could improve camplife. In 1939, Clow Ford was in exactlythe right place at the right time to help anew generation of POWs. He checkedthe exam papers from every institution,searching for anything that might offendthe German censors. The dedication ofClow Ford and his small team helpedensure the survival of the entire system.

The exams were sent airmail to Lisbon,by a General Post Ofce service that

remained secret as it was signicantly

faster than normal correspondence toPOWs. The Red Cross then distributedthe papers. Exams were held in over80 camps, in countries from Denmarkto Hungary, and France to Poland. The

Red Cross sent completed scripts tothe Educational Books Section (EBS) ofthe Joint War Organisation (the mergedBritish Red Cross and Order of St Johnof Jerusalem). Based at the BodleianLibrary and directed by the redoubtableEthel Herdman, the EBS distributedthe exams to the respective institutionsand informed the POWs of their results(see image). Unfortunately, the airmailstopped before D-Day, 6 June 1944; alimited service resumed in September viaSweden.

Whilst POWs had quickly set up campuniversities to educate each otherand received books from the EBS,exams were evidently another step. Theexamination system was established

in late 1941, when it was obvious thatthe war was going to continue for sometime. There are limited statistics for POWexams, but clearly there was no initialrush: by December 1942, there were only450 applications. Thereafter applicationsrose steadily until 1944. Studying wasbadly affected by D-Day and again bythe breakdown in camp life from January1945 onwards, when food was scarceand thousands of POWs were marched

out of their camps. It was impossibleto study in these circumstances.Nevertheless, by 30 June 1945 therewere 17,600 applications for exams:10,104 candidates sat papers and 5,529of them passed outright.

Most POWs read or attended classes,without feeling the need to take exams.

Studying offered them a chance to forgettheir situation and prevented boredom,depression and even madness. Thosewho applied for exams found that thepreparation gave them something toaim for and helped to break down theircaptivity into smaller, more manageableperiods. The POWs with signicant

experience of education were more likelyto be ofcers, who were protected by the

Geneva Convention of 1929 from beingforced to work and therefore had the timeand energy to study. The POWs withlimited experience of studying were morelikely to be the other ranks who had towork during the day at jobs including hardmanual labour. Yet despite the crampedand noisy environment, extremes oftemperature, lack of food and air raids,men of all ranks studied, poring overbooks illuminated by lamps made frommargarine.

The examination system would have

been impossible without the co-operation of the German authorities.They allowed British POWs to study asit cost them nothing, provided a focuswhich prevented men from dwelling

on their captivity and distracted themfrom escaping. In contrast, the Italianauthorities never replied to requests tohold exams and there was no hope ofsending exams to POWs held by theJapanese.

Tracing POWs for the University ofLondon book was difcult, partly because

survivors are now in their 80s. Althoughthere is a card index of POW students in

Senate House archives, it is closed until2032. I was allowed to see the index,but none of the information could bepublished unless it was already in thepublic domain. Therefore, rather thanbeing the starting point for the research,the index was used to verify informationfound in a variety of archives: to check ifX really had been in Y camp and taken Z

exam.

It took a year to nd a surviving POW

who had passed an External exam.Corporal Jack Grifths from the Royal

Army Ordnance Corps was capturedin May 1940 and spent ve years as

a POW. At Oag VII B Jack passedhis City and Guilds in Machine Designand Machine Shop Engineering in1943 and the London Matriculation andIntermediate Engineering in 1944. Hestudied despite having to work as a camporderly: only stopping whilst he was heldin shackles for nine months. Unable toaccess the Ofcers facilities, Jack taught

himself from books. His enthusiasm forstudying came from his awareness that

he was falling behind the men at home.

This letter (opposite) from Ethel Herdmantells Jacks mother of his success Jacksays she was overjoyed. Motivated byhis achievements, Jack continued hiseducation in England and eventuallybecame a lecturer.

1The Peoples University: 150 years ofthe University of London and its External

Students, by Christine Kenyon Jones(University of London External System,

2008).

...The preparation gave them

something to aim for and helped

to break down their captivity intosmaller, more manageable periods.




Tall buildings in theLondon landscape:a historical andcontemporarysymposium12 October 2007

of the Post Ofce Tower (620ft/189m).

Christine Stevenson followed with aconsideration of Vantage points in the17th-century City, reprising themes ofdomination and pre-eminence, but takinga more experiential approach. Morethan the monuments themselves, hersubject was their observers and publicaccess to the tops of the Monument(literally dened, a monument is that

which reminds), St Pauls and othertowers, such as St Mary le Bow, at 224ft(68m) foremost among the Citys parishchurches. Emphasising the vitality thatcomes from height, she quoted Michelde Certeau: its hard to be down whenyoure up. She also drew attentionto the way that the view from a tallbuilding transforms anyone into anurban historian; vantage points make thecomplex city intelligible.

That was it for pre-Victorian London,and a chronologicalgap in the proceedings

here did leave somequestions hanging, notleast whether smoke/smog compromised theenjoyment of views androoftops after the 17thcentury, and whether thecapitals huge expansionencouraged tallerbuilding. Commercialbuilding in the 18thcentury did climb ashigh as nine storeys, atPauls Wharf, where a

block that was up by the1740s intruded on viewsfrom the river of Wrensonly recently completedcathedral. Canaletto

diminished the impact of this warehouseon the view, suggesting something of acontemporary sense of priorities. But,before the invention of lifts, such heightswere rare.

The next speaker, Senaka Weeraman,an architect, presented an account ofBrunels 282ft (86m) tall water towers

to the Crystal Palace as it stood atSydenham, and plans to re-invent theirspectacular south suburban view ofLondon in a new form, incorporating awind turbine. Brunels towers survived there that accounted for the Palace in 1936,

only to come down soon after (like thegreat chimneys of Abbey Mills PumpingStation north of the river) becausethey were felt to supply targets for theLuftwaffe. The hubris of height (Babelagain) was a leitmotif of the day. Themeaning of monument notwithstanding,Weeramans invocation of memory as a

justication for the revival of a structurethat is 70 years gone seems problematic.Again, this was all about views of the cityfrom towers, not about views of towers inthe city.

Richard Dennis took us on to Babylonianats in Victorian and Edwardian London.

His primary focus was Queen AnneMansions, a 10- to 12-storey block of ats

of the 1870s in St James (Westminster)that rose to 141ft (43m) and arousedgreat controversy: The Times reportedwhen it comes to a building soextravagant as Queen Anne Mansions,the site hardly matters; the edice itself

passes the lawful limits of ugliness. Itwas instrumental in the build up to theLCCs success in gaining legislation torestrict the height of buildings.

Questions of density began (implicitly)to surface, as did comparisons with NewYork. Andrew Saint raised what he calledthe great contra-factual why didnt

This event at the Institute of HistoricalResearch was jointly convened by theCentre for Metropolitan History withElizabeth McKellar (Open Universityarchitectural historian) and MichaelHebbert (University of Manchestertown planner), both members of theeditorial board of the London Journal.The occasion had its origins in thatgroup, and its proceedings will form aspecial issue of the journal. The day wasintroduced by Michael and Elizabeth asan attempt to step back from a freneticand heated debate to gain historicalperspective. This seemed especiallytimely. On the same day a letter signedby 22 historians appeared in TheGuardian urging the government torecognise that heritage spending is nota dispensable luxury. The symposiumbrought together speakers and listenersfrom a wide range of institutional andindependent backgrounds, extending farbeyond academe. Planning and goodstewardship ensured plenty of discussion

time between and after 10 short (15minute) presentations.

The morning was devoted to Buildingtall before the 20th century andbegan with Derek Keenes paper ontall buildings in medieval London.There is, of course, nothing new about(relatively) tall buildings, nor abouttheir contentiousness. Indeed, it wassuggested that a close critique of theTower of Babel story might tell useverything we needed to know on thesubject. The reach for heaven, the

assertion of unity and fame, and theinstrument of authority combined in thespire of Old St Pauls Cathedral, which,at 500ft (152m), was the tallest buildingin London before the completion in 1964

Senate House illuminated by Jane Boyds Concrete Illusionsinstallation, December 2006, photograph: Jane Boyd, Senate

House Library, courtesy of the Senate House Library




imperial London have taller buildings?Regulation and the control of re risk

were factors, but the former not before1890, and the latter was not unique toLondon. More tellingly, perhaps, Londonsconstruction industry remained modestlycapitalised, and Dennis pointed out thatQueen Anne Mansions were not a greatnancial success. It was also interesting,

in view of what had gone before, thatviews from these mansions have notbeen found; they were evidently not aselling point.

The afternoon moved into the 20thcentury. Jane Boyd, an artist, presenteda single 1930s building, the one we werein Charles Holdens Senate House,which 210ft (64m) tower she called thecapitals rst skyscraper. Yet somehow it

is obscure, like its architect, little knownby the general public, perhaps, in part,because there has not been free access

to the top. Boyds installation, projectingan image of the Pantheons oculus andcoffered ceiling onto Senate House,was praised from the oor as having

brought coherence to the building. LeslieBudd, an engineer turned economist,reected on rst-hand experience of the

discourses of architects and engineersin the 1970s. Professional convergenceand divergence was one aspect of hisvaried, even fragmentary, insights.Richard Seifert gured large and wascredited as an unheralded John theBaptist to the current wave of tall building.He was given praise for the NatWestTower (600ft/182m), but generally slatedas over-stretched and disinterested, theabsence of detailing at ground level beinga particular problem, and a source ofpublic antipathy, in and towards his andmany other of the periods tall buildings.Of another project, he admitted, frankly,we didnt really care what it looked like.As if they had, Andrew Saint pointed outthat good design in tall buildings has towork in at least three scales, for the closeencounter, the middle-distant view and

the remote view. For this, Seifert andothers since and presently have had norules or framework, though the natureof the problem was well understood byLouis Sullivan.

Thereafter, current debates wereengaged. Lucy Markham, a historianworking within an engineering practice(Alan Baxter Associates), presented thethreat to views of St Pauls Cathedraland the transformation of the Londonskyline. Views of the City had long sincemattered, but controlling what comprised

that view (view management) was aninvention of 20th-century planning. Thebeginnings were in the 1930s with theadvent of the principle of zoning andreaction against the impact of Faraday

House. But it was the Blitz and a post-war nostalgic view of St Pauls standingalone, that helped seal a sense of theimportance of these never unimpededviews. She pointed out that tall buildingshad been forced to cluster outside theview corridors, and concluded thatrestricting heights along the Thamessouth of St Pauls had probablycontributed to poor design, as economicincentives for the use of otherwiseprestigious sites were reduced.

Michael Short spoke about recenttall-building management in London,and its success or failure in enhancingthe capitals character. Perhaps themost interesting moment has been theintervention of UNESCO into the debate,that organisation having dropped thebrick that World Heritage Site statusmight be removed from the Tower ofLondon and Palace of Westminsterbecause of alterations to their settings.Shorts unhistorical assumptions about

Londons skyline becoming incoherentaccompanied a reminder, memory/nostalgia resurfacing as a salient, thatwhat is initially vilied becomes well

loved Centrepoint, even Canary Wharf.Characterisation, it seemed to be agreed,was something that should have a widerbase than just in the heritage sector

Andrew Harris presented an absorbinglydetailed case study of a plan to build tallthat failed, a perennial subject that wasotherwise neglected through the day. Thiscame through Livingstone versus Serota:

the high-rise battle of Bankside, whichrevealed much more than the specics of

its topic, proposals and counter-proposalsfor the plot immediately west of TateModern. Finally, Maria Kaika spoke about

tall buildings and the changing socialrole of architecture in a globalised world.This, by contrast with what had preceded,was heavy-duty intellectual discourse.Yet it touched on some real issues,not least the unravelling of the urbanrealm, and public space that isnt trulypublic, with narrative verve and humour labelling the great set-piece andcontextually agnostic landmark or icontowers of the early 21st century autisticarchitecture. An understanding of theCity Corporation as Londons Vatican wasalso amusing, but the characterisationof its shift from fogey-ish conservatismto 1990s corporatism (whipped intoredemption) was naively over-simpleand failed to account for the changingnature of nancial capitalism. Similarly,a question (why does capital refuse tooccupy the landmarks it erects?) seemedto misunderstand the nature of capital.But, nally, Kaikas call for an imaginary

constitution of an urban identity seemedto reach to the heart of the historians

purpose that perspective to debate thatlaunched the day.

In concluding remarks, Michael Hebbert,Elizabeth McKellar and Derek Keenementioned a few topics that had not beencovered public housing, detailing, andouter/suburban areas with tall buildings,but this was unnecessarily apologetic.The symposium was an excellent event,lively and widely cross-disciplinary inits presentations and its discussions.The collaborative painting of a broadhistorical perspective must have left few

preconceptions unchallenged.

Peter Guillery (Survey of London)

St Pauls Cathedral, seen from the Millennium Bridge



On 27 February 2008, about 40 peopleattended the latest in the History Labsregular series of events that aim to helppostgraduates and young historiansbuild and develop their careers. Historianand broadcaster Daniel Snowmanchaired an evening of conversation andwine with David Cannadine, the QueenElizabeth the Queen Mother Professor ofBritish History at the IHR and author ofnumerous books including The Decline

and Fall of the British Aristocracy(1990);Class in Britain (1998), and most recentlyMellon an American Life (2006).

Professor Cannadine reected on a

long and distinguished career in historyaround three broad topics suggestedby the chair: Learning, Earning andReturning. On the learning side, he wasborn in 1950 and grew up in what wasthen still recognisably the Birminghamof Joseph Chamberlain. A voraciousreader of history books in his teens andbeneciary of an excellent grammar

school education, David became the rstmember of his family to go to university.He remembers being greatly inuenced

in his youth by a number of the popularhistorians of the 1960s and 1970s,including Jack Plumb, A.J.P. Taylor andLawrence Stone.

A number of the bees in ProfessorCannadines bonnet emerged duringthe course of the conversation. One keyissue was the importance of historianstalking to colleagues outside their ownspecialist areas, which he felt was beinglost amidst the pressures placed onyoung scholars to specialise too narrowlyand too early in their careers. Anotherwas his desire for professional historiansto write books that people will actually

want to read, recognising that historyforms a signicant part of our broader

national culture. Professor Cannadinealso remarked on what he sees as thegrave lack of awareness of continuitybetween the present and the past, or asense that the past matters in terms ofexplaining the present. This is, he noted,a particular failing within government andinuencing public policy is an important

activity for historians though anextremely difcult one.

Historiographically, he noted huge

changes in the eld since he startedout, especially in the move away fromthe erection of great causal constructsof change, under the banner of Marxismor other teleologies, to models ofdoing history where the emphasis is

instead placed on the accidental andthe contingent. Also important was themove away from narrow conceptionsof political, constitutional and economichistory to embrace areas such as social,cultural and gender history.

The hardest thing for young historians,Cannadine suggested, is to gain boththe reputation and momentum that isrequired to start moving up the career

ladder. Added to this is the increasingpressure to publish in journals, coupledwith the over-long refereeing process, sothat it can take almost as long to get anarticle into print as it can take to write abook. Despite the changes taking placewithin the profession, however, ProfessorCannadine remained optimistic about itsfuture.

When the meeting was thrown open tothe oor a wide ranging discussion took

place. Asked about the qualities requiredin a good teacher, for instance, Professor

Cannadine said that young lecturers hada tendency to try to pack too much into alecture three key points was plenty. Andone of the most important skills neededby academics leading seminars is thesimple ability to listen.

What I know now that I wishI'd known thenDavid Cannadine in conversation with the History Lab

What I know now that I wish Id known then

The History Lab is an established

network for postgraduate students and

new researchers in history and related

disciplines. Based at the Institute of

Historical Research, it is an intellectual

and social forum designed to meetthe needs of the postgraduate history

community. It is an opportunity for the

next generation of historians to meet to

discuss ideas and to drive the study of

history forward.

www.history.ac.uk/histlab/



British History Online

AHRC Calendars ProjectThe Arts and Humanities Research Council has funded British History Online (www.british-history.ac.uk) to complete its digitisationof the Calendars of State Papers. Some volumes of the State Papers, Colonial, and State Papers, Foreign, have already gone live

and the completed project will make around 400 volumes freely available online in the following series:

Letters & Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII (15091547): 36 volumesState Papers, Foreign Edward VI (15471553): 1 volumeState Papers, Foreign Mary (15531558): 1 volumeState Papers, Foreign Elizabeth I (15581596): 30 volumesColonial Records State Papers, Colonial (15131739): 45 volumesColonial Records Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations (17041782): 14 volumesTreasury Books and Papers Treasury Papers (15571728): 6 volumesTreasury Books and Papers Treasury Books (16601718): 64 volumesTreasury Books and Papers Treasury Books and Papers (17291745): 5 volumesFrance Documents Preserved in France (9181206): 1 volumeSpain Letters, Despatches, State Papers: Negotiations Between England and Spain (15251558): 20 volumesSpain Letters and State Papers Relating to English Affairs (15581603): 4 volumes

Italy Papal Letters (11981492): 15 volumesItaly Petitions to the Pope (13421419): 1 volumeItaly State Papers Relating to English Affairs (Vatican) (15581578): 2 volumesItaly Report to the Master of the Rolls on Documents in Venice: 1 volumeItaly State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs (Venice) (12021674): 40 volumesItaly State Papers and Manuscripts (Milan) (13851618): 1 volumeRymers Foedera (10661654): 3 volumes

A central part of the project is the creation of an annotation feature and discussion area for the digitised resources. Scholarswill be able to add their commentaries to the calendars, focusing them at the level of an individual entry adding or correctinginformation and will be able to discuss topics more generally on a thread. The annotation and discussion tools will be available toall registered users of the site from spring 2008.

Subscribe to the Calendars of State Papers, Domestic, Scotland and IrelandBritish History Online, the digital library of key historical sources, has recently digitised the Calendars of State Papers, Domestic,Scotland and Ireland. Like the other material on the site, each volume has been scanned, double re-keyed and converted to XMLformat, with a guarantee of 99.9 per cent accuracy. The calendar texts are fully cross-searchable with a range of other material forthe early modern period, including the Lords and Commons Journals. Personal subscriptions to this online resource essential forany study of early modern history cost 30 per year and will support us in continuing to publish further free content. Institutionalsubscriptions are also available, so please let your university librarian know how important it is for your research and ask him or herto request a free 30-day trial.Please see www.british-history.ac.uk/subscribe.aspx for further details. To sign up for an individual subscription at the special rateof just 20 please quote reference 289563.

New content on the websiteThe second half of 2007 continued to see the regular addition of new texts

to British History Online, including the completion of John Thurloes StatePapers, a fundamental source for the political and diplomatic history ofthe17th century. It was also a bumper period for new resources for localhistory, with new volumes of the Victoria County History appearing for sixcounties, including Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Signicant new contentfor parliamentary history included the Catalogue of Ancient Deeds, a six-volume calendar of manuscripts held in The National Archives.

Appeal for copyright holdersBritish History Online should like to make contact with any relatives orlegatees of the editors of certain sources, with a view to securing copyrightpermission to add these volumes and datasets to the site. For full detailsplease see www.history.ac.uk/digit/copyright.html.

Record society publishingOne of the core aims of British History Online is to support record society publishing. The project held a conference in 2007 and willhold another in June 2008. For further details please visit www.history.ac.uk/recordsoc/.

British History Online



Historical archives coursesThese courses introduce students to thefundamental skills of conducting originalhistorical research, guiding them through

the processes of compiling a bibliography,locating primary source materials andusing archives and repositories. As wellas being introduced to the printed andonline tools available, the group will visitthe most important archives and librariesfor their elds of interest, learning about

their collections and how to use them,and meeting the specialist archivists whowill help them in their work.

Methods and sources for historicalresearch711 July 2008

A week-long intensive introductionto archives and libraries for historicalsources post-1500 (runs three times ayear).

Research training at the IHRInformation technologycoursesDatabases for historians II1618 July 2008

Develops the more advanced practicalskills necessary for constructing and fullyexploiting a database for use in historicalresearch.

The Internet for historical research6 June 2008An introduction to using the Internet as atool for historical research.

Historical GIS22 May 2008Geographical Information Systems arerapidly becoming essential to all historicalanalysis involving spatial data. This one-day course will explain the basics of GISfor a non-specialist historical audience,exploring its application to history andevaluating its potential for particular typesof historical sources. It is a rst port of

call for those curious about historical GIS

and wishing to understand how to make ita part of their own research.

Historical skills courses

These offer training in a variety ofspecialised skills used by historians in thecourse of their work.

Interviewing for researchers5 June 2008An introduction to conducting interviewswith ofcials and specic types of subject

(i.e., civil servants, government ministers,politicians, clinicians, businessmen anddissidents).

An introduction to historicaltheoryThursdays, 24 April26 June 2008A critical introduction to current

approaches to historical explanation.

Further courses are also run throughoutthe year. Please see www.history.ac.uk/training/ for an up-to-date listing.

Oliver Blaiklock introduces Reviews in Historyat the IHRReviews in History(www.history.ac.uk/reviews) is a free e-journal publishedby the Institute of Historical Research.Since its launch in 1996, the journalhas published reviews and reappraisals

of signicant historical works. Reviewsare undertaken by leading scholars ofrecently published works of history ina serious and scholarly way, at greaterspeed and fuller length than in mostprinted journals. The journal also aimsto encourage constructive discussion byallowing authors the right of reply.

The launch of the journal coincided withthe wide-scale proliferation of electronicmodes of publishing, particularlythrough the Internet. Twelve years on,the journal continues to fulll a global

need, providing a forum for historicaldebate and discussion. The Reviews inHistorywebpages register around 20,000visits each month while an email digestsummarising new postings is distributedto 2,000 subscribers in over 40 countries.To subscribe to the weekly email alert,please visit the Reviews webpages(address above) and click on the linkwhich says free email alert.

To date almost 650 books have beenreviewed, covering a broad chronological,geographical and thematic range. Recent

highlights include a thoughtful review byMarc Calvini-Lefebvre of Jo Vellacottsmost recent book, Pacists, Patriotsand the Vote: the Erosion of Democratic

Suffragism in Britain During the FirstWorld War(Palgrave Macmillan, 2007),

along with a reply from the author; aninteresting discussion of Tom Lodgesrecent biography of Nelson Mandela; anda review of Ordering Africa: Anthropology,European Imperialism and the Politics

of Knowledge (Manchester UniversityPress, 2007), edited by Helen Tilley, inwhich the reviewer and editor discussthe role of anthropology within Europeanimperialism and draw comparisons withthe recent US-led invasion of Iraq.

The affairs of Reviews in Historyareoverseen by an editorial board whoseinterests are diverse. The board guidesthe direction of the journal so as tomaintain its usefulness to studentsand teachers of history. Consequently,Reviews allows students of history to

gain insight into current issues anddebates, as well as acting as a usefulbibliographical reference. Teachers,meanwhile, can use Reviews to stayabreast of new developments and toexplore topics relevant to undergraduateand A-level courses.

Following the publication of the recentAHRC-funded/IHR-led project Peerreview of digital resources for the artsand humanities, Reviews in Historyis seeking to increase the number ofreviews of digital resources that are

commissioned. The journal hopes toreassure academics and their hostinstitutions of the worth of time spentin the creation of digital resources andestablish which are of most use andinterest to the academic community.

From time to time the journal hasthemed months. This year, a sportshistory-themed month will be held tocoincide with the Beijing Olympics. It willinclude reviews of recently published

titles discussing, among other things:the origins of the modern Olympics, theinteraction of sport with the media, andthe impact of drugs and alcohol on sportthroughout history. This also coincideswith the CCBHs summer conference,Olympic City: London, Britain and theWorld 1908, 1948, 2012.

Reviews in Historyis also planning tobegin a new range of reviews of the textbooks used for A-level courses written bythose who use them history teachers(perhaps with some input from their

pupils). These reviews will consider theusefulness of the content and structureof the book under review with regard tothe A-level syllabus, and will provide avaluable interface between those whowrite the books and those who use them.If you teach history at A-level, or knowsomeone who does and who would bewilling to write a review for us we wouldbe delighted to hear from you.

Reviews in Historyis anxious to enhanceits coverage and to learn more fromour users and how we may serve them

better. Any advice or suggestions willbe gratefully received. Please send anythoughts you may have to [email protected].



Events diaryEvents will take place at the Institute of Historical Research unless otherwise stated.

Anglo-American Conference of Historians: Communication (24 July 2008)Communication is central to all human relationships and to the functioning of all societies. This years Anglo-American conference,

the IHRs agship event, includes sessions on subjects as diverse as medieval transport networks, the growth of the knowledgeeconomy, the General Post Ofce in modern British history and communicating the civil rights movement in the US.

Contact: Julie Ackroyd ([email protected]); see www.history.ac.uk/conferences/ihrconfs.html for more information.

Olympic City: London, Britain and the World 1908, 1948, 2012 (911 July 2008)London hosted the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948, and will do so again in 2012. The CCBHs 2008 Summer Conference willexamine the history of the Games in the context of London and British history in the 20th and 21st centuries, and look ahead to theimpact of the 2012 Games.Contact: Virginia Preston ([email protected]; 020 7862 8802); see www.icbh.ac.uk for more details.

Early English law: a centenary conference on Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen of FelixLiebermann (19031916) (1617 July 2008)The IHR is jointly sponsoring this conference, which will evaluate the impact of Liebermanns work, explore new work on early

English law (from thelberht to the London Leges Anglorum), and launch a new edition of the texts.Contact: Bruce OBrien ([email protected]; 020 7978 5084); see www.history.ac.uk/conferences/ihrconfs.html for moreinformation.

American historyThursday, 5.30pm

British history 18151945Thursday, 5.00pm

British history in the 17th centuryThursday, 5.15pm

British history in the long 18th centuryWednesday, 5.15pm

British maritime historyTuesday, 5.15pm

Collecting & display (100 BC to AD 1700)Monday, 6.00pm

Contemporary British historyWednesday, 5.00pm

Crusades and the Latin EastMonday, 5.00pm

Economic and social history of thepremodern world, 15001800

Friday, 5.15pmEarlier Middle Ages

Wednesday, 5.30pmEuropean history 11501550

Thursday, 5.30pmEuropean history 15001800

Monday, 5.00pmFilm history

Thursday, 5.30pmHistory of education

Thursday, 5.30pm

History of gardens and landscapesFriday, 5.30pm

History of political ideasWednesday, 4.15pm

History of the psycheWednesday, 3.15pm

Imperial historyMonday, 5.00pm

International historyTuesday, 6.00pm

Knowledge and societyTuesday, 4.00pm

Late medieval and early modern ItalyThursday, 5.00pm

Late medieval seminarFriday, 5.30pm

Locality and regionTuesday, 5.15pm

London Group of Historical GeographersTuesday, 5.00pm

London Society for Medieval StudiesTuesday, 7.00pm

Low CountriesFriday, 5.00pm

Marxism and the interpretation ofculture

Friday, 5.30pmMedieval and Tudor London

Thursday, 5.15pmMetropolitan history

Wednesday, 5.30pm

Military historyTuesday, 5.00pm

Modern French historyMonday, 5.30pm

Modern German historyThursday, 5.30pm

Modern Italian historyWednesday, 5.30pm

Modern religious historyWednesday, 5.15pm

Music in BritainMonday, 5.15pm

Parliaments, representation and societyTuesday, 5.15pm

Philosophy of historyThursday, 5.30pm

Postgraduate seminarThursday, 5.30pm

Psychoanalysis and historyWednesday, 5.30pm

Reconguring the British: nation, empire,

world 16001900Thursday, 5.30pm

Religious history of Britain 15001800Tuesday, 5.00pm

Society, culture and belief, 15001800Thursday, 5.30pm

Socialist historyMonday, 5.30pm

Tudor and StuartMonday, 5.15pm

Womens historyFriday, 5.15pm

The IHRs world-renowned programme of seminars continues to go from strength to strength. Seminars meet weekly during termtime and all are welcome. An up-to-date programme for each seminar can be found on the IHRs website atwww.history.ac.uk/ihrseminars/ and is also displayed within the IHR.


16/16

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Includes contributions from

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www victoriacountyhistoryac uk

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Bristol: Ethnic Minorities and the City

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The Victoria County History is pleased to announce the latest

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the nation as a whole, came to be what it is today.Trevor Philips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission

This book offers new insights into the

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Plenary speakers:Virginia BerridgeMichael Clanchy

Natalie Zemon DavisJean Seaton

Paul Starr

77th Anglo-American Conference of Historians24 July 2008

For more information or to register, please contact Julie Ackroyd([email protected])

Institute of Historical ResearchSchool of Advanced Study, University of London