Black's History Week

In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, author of  Rethinking World War Two  talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about Winston Churchill's career up to 1940 when he became prime minister and considers the question of whether his political life had been more failure than success until that critical juncture in world history. Don’t forget to subscribe t...

Why has Hercule Poirot's appeal been so enduring and what does his character owe to Agatha Christie's interests in psychoanalysis and Christian morality? In this episode of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about Belgium's greatest fictional detective. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure y...

In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black discusses with  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, France's historical inheritance, from secularism and philosophy to elitism and expectations of the power of the state. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re offering 3 months for j...

How well did France adapt to economic and social change in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s? In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, author of the forthcoming  France: A Short History , talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about French reforms and continuities from Georges Pompidou to Francois Hollande. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  ...

After the ignominy of the Vichy regime, how did post-war France recreate its government institutions, political parties and civil society? Was the Fourth Republic a failure and what was De Gaulle's vision for his country? Professor Jeremy Black, author of the forthcoming  France: A Short History , talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about the French experience from the libera...

In this podcast edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, author of the forthcoming  France: A Short History , talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about what made French politics and society distinctive in the two decades before and after the First World War. -- Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never mis...

How was France in the nineteenth century shaped by its prelude of revolutionary strife and warfare? Was it a bourgeois society seeking a combination of economic dynamism with political stability and, if so, was this better provided by the Second Empire of Napoleon III or the republican governments that immediately preceded and succeeded it? In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy...

What caused the French revolution? Might it have succeeded in creating a more representative government without descending into The Terror, and how was France reshaped in the process?   In this new Black's History Week series on French history, Professor Jeremy Black talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about the revolutionary ferment. __ Don’t forget to subscribe to the podca...

Should we study history to search for lessons it might teach or to discern its relevance to our own preoccupations? What were earlier generations of historians trying to convey in their institutions or through wider instruction? Beyond a chronicle of past events, does history have meaning? In this edition of Black's History Week,  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Professor...

In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how he might perhaps have lived his life had he been a historian living in the Britain of the eighteenth century rather than now. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re offering 3 months for just £5. Go to...

From AJP Taylor's monologues to Kenneth Clark's  Civilisation ,  The World at War , heritage programmes and the documentaries of Ken Burns, how has television projected the study of history and the role of historians? In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how television shapes our appreciation of the past - for better or worse.  Don...

Why did the detective novel become popular in the Victorian era and experience a "golden age" in inter-war Britain? How far has the genre evolved since then? And can historians learn much about the preoccupations of their period by reading this form of literature?  In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black sifts through the evidence with The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart. Don’t forget t...

From the platoon sergeant or first lieutenant trying to work out what was on the other side of the hill to the generals and field marshals planning grand strategy, the second world war was fought using maps. But how good were these maps? How were those covering under-explored areas made and how quickly could they be supplied to the men on the move at the sharp end? In this podcast, Professor Jerem...

How has the tank revolutionised warfare in the century since it was first deployed in 1916 and how has military strategy adapted to take account of opponents' real or perceived tank strengths and tactics? And with the increased deployment of rockets and drones, is the age of the main battle tank now passing in favour of lighter, more nimble, armour? In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author...

To Americans, a tyrant. To British radicals, a reactionary. To dramatists, a madman. And to many of his subjects, a well-intentioned and fundamentally moderate ruler holding his realm together in a Europe assailed by absolutists, dictators, and revolutionaries. Do any of these caricatures of George III fit? In this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of  George III: America's Last King , and,...

In this week's Black's History Week podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of  Altered States , talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how posterity - or at any rate some historians - will treat the presidency of Donald Trump. Revolutionary? Visionary? Perpetuator of a long-established isolationist tradition or the architect of a realist foreign policy for the 21st centur...

In this fifth podcast to mark the presidential election, Professor Jeremy Black, author of  Altered States , talks to  The Critic ‘s political editor, Graham Stewart, about how the power of the US president has been exercised since the end of the Cold War. -- Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re offering 3...

In this fourth podcast to mark the coming presidential election, Professor Jeremy Black, author of  Altered States , talks to  The Critic ‘s political editor, Graham Stewart, about how the power of the US president has been exercised since the Second World War.   -- Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never miss an episode. Right now we’re off...

In the third of four podcasts to mark the coming presidential election, Professor Jeremy Black, author of  Fighting for America  and  Altered States , talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how the power of the US president was exercised in the first half of the twentieth century, from Teddy Roosevelt to FDR. -- Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iT...

In the second of three podcasts to mark the coming presidential election, the first of which can be found here , Professor Jeremy Black, author of  Fighting for America  and  Altered States , talks to  The Criti c's political editor, Graham Stewart, about how the power of the US president was exercised during the Civil War and its aftermath. -- Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify...

With less than four weeks to go before American voters elect their next president, how has executive authority developed since George Washington was sworn in as the federal republic's first president in 1789?   In this first of three podcasts to mark the coming presidential election, Professor Jeremy Black, author of  Fighting for America  and  Altered States , talks to  The Critic 's political ed...

In a week when backbench MPs and the government clashed over the right to debate Coronavirus regulations before they become law, how does the role of the modern MP compare with that of an eighteenth century honourable member? Were MPs a check upon - or a rubber-stamp for - successive Whig governments and how diligently did they perform their duties?   In this week's  Black's History Week  podcast...

Has scientific development become so specialised and academic roles so minutely research-focused that there is no longer a role for the inter-disciplinary polymath who prioritises breadth of knowledge and making connections between different subjects? In this week's  Black's History Week , Professor Jeremy Black talks to  The Critic 's political editor, Graham Stewart, about the idea of the Renais...

Welcome to the first episode of Black’s History Week: the latest podcast series from us here at The Critic . The former prime ministers, John Major, Tony Blair and Theresa May have all criticised Boris Johnson's handling of the Internal Market Bill and the Withdrawal Agreement. But how common is it for ex-prime ministers to continue to play a prominent part in British politics after they have left...