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When the Wind Blows: Planning for Nuclear War in the 1980s
Read more: When the Wind Blows: Planning for Nuclear War in the 1980sJim Gledhill on the organisation of civil defence in Scotland amidst Cold War tensions.
Freedom of Speech as Well as Listening: From Thinking with Words to Listening Through Language
By Igor R. Reyner It is evident that we are living in a particularly challenging time, where transformative and empathic ways of listening, as well as of understanding, are much needed. Surrounded by fake news and intransigent behaviour, isolated in…
A Sociologist and a Philosopher Attempt to Learn from COVID
Edward Avery-Natale, interviewed by Colin C. Smith My childhood friend Dr. Edward Avery-Natale is a professor of contemporary sociology, while I am a lecturer in ancient philosophy. Although Ed studies the modern world and I the ancient, we are often…
The Lost Splendour of Ghazni: Rediscovering an Islamic Capital in Medieval Afghanistan
By Viola Allegranzi Located in present-day Afghanistan, Ghazni was once a prosperous commercial and cultural centre at the crossroads of Iranian, Central Asian and Indian regions. Under the rule of the Ghaznavid dynasty (r. 977-1186), the city was home to…
Opium in Afghanistan, a glimpse from the past
By Sara Peterson In recent years, the cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan has become a news item, with reports from the United Nations and the United States Government documenting record highs (no pun intended) in opium production. Now we…
The Jesuits and the Globalisation of the Renaissance
By Peter Burke The idea that the unintended consequences of human action are often more important – for better and even more often, for worse – than the intended ones is a well-known theme among historians, whether they study politics,…
Introducing Northern Scotland: Black Lives Matter Virtual Collection
Read the introductory article to our recently released Northern Scotland: Black Lives Matter virtual collection, which can be found on our website and is freely accessible until the end of 2020. By Jim MacPherson The racist murder of George Floyd…
Children’s lives disrupted: in French history and today
By Siân Reynolds When we were preparing this special issue of Nottingham French Studies (59: 2) which I have guest-edited, we did not know that by the time it appeared the world would be in the grip of the COVID-19…
My First Day in Camp with the Piruzai – Afghanistan, 1971
By Nancy Lindisfarne-Tapper In 1971 and 1972 Richard Tapper and I lived with Afghan villagers for nearly a year. The Piruzai, some 200 families, lived in two small settlements near the town of Sar-e Pol in northern Afghanistan. They were…
Health Service Provision Challenges in 19th-century Afghanistan and Now
By Namatullah Kadrie The COVID-19 pandemic is only the latest of many public health crises that have struck Afghanistan—and that have made the country a site of international intervention by medical experts. Indeed, it was the fifth international cholera epidemic…