It was the moment the Spanish Civil War came to Scotland – eight months after it had ended in Spain. October 16, 1939 saw the first Nazi air raid over Britain to bomb ships in the Firth of Forth. Many… Read More ›
history on the web
Fags, footie and Fergie
Everyone comes to the history of the NHS from their own perspective. Thus, if you’re over 40 you’re likely to be clueless about Dr Finlay’s Casebook although it was the first peak time BBC original TV drama in the 1960s. And… Read More ›
Making a drama out of a crisis
When all else fails after 90 years it’s time to throw the kids into battle. Which is why Gullane Primary youngsters were the stars of a new musical premiered this month at the National Museum of Scotland. Next week Hitherfield Primary… Read More ›
The night the world ended
Few reporters make the ranks of poets. My namesake Hugh Christopher Holme was one of them. As a Reuters correspondent he brought the horror of the bombing of Gernika (Guernica) to the world’s attention. His dispatches triggered an enormous international response, immortalised in… Read More ›
Every picture tells a history
I’ve always thought this is the best photograph of a nurse I’d ever seen. The sheer joy in the midwife’s face is utterly captivating. I first came across it as postcard in the Florence Nightingale Museum at St Thomas’s, as… Read More ›
EU Anthem shock
Shock news – if Scotland is dragged out of the European Union, it could take the best line from the EU anthem with it. Friedrich Schiller changed two lines in his original Ode to Joy poem published in 1785. One… Read More ›
Life saving archives
We don’t hear much about the capacity of archives to prolong or even save life. Left gathering decades of dust, we tend to think of them as a health hazard rather than their potential for improving health and wellbeing. A… Read More ›
The benefits of frontier-free science
It’s hard to pin down what we actually lose if the free movement of people and ideas diminishes or dies. Scotland’s historic close links with Europe help explain its overwhelming vote to stay in the EU. Free exchange in the… Read More ›
Sister Dora – the first female statue?
The first public statue for a woman in Britain turns up in an unlikely place. Walsall is an industrial town in the Black Country north of Birmingham. I have a lot of affection for it – it’s where I did… Read More ›
Viva Aviva Archiva
The history of insurance may seem an ideal cure for insomnia – but not in the hands of enterprising archivists. Aviva has recently launched its new archive website and it’s a real treat – a very good example of what… Read More ›
The History Company 