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Angus Calder
Angus Lindsay Ritchie Calder (5 February 1942 – 5 June 2008) was a Scottish writer, historian, and poet. Initially studying English literature, he became increasingly interested in political history and wrote a landmark study on Britain during the Second World War in 1969 entitled ''The People's War''. He subsequently wrote several other historical works but became increasingly interested in literature and poetry and worked primarily as a writer, though often holding a number of university teaching positions. A socialist, he was a prominent Scottish public intellectual during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Angus Calder was born in London on 5 February 1942 into a prominent left-wing family from Scotland. His father was Ritchie Calder (1906–1982), a noted socialist and pacifist who became famous for his work as a journalist and science writer. His siblings are Nigel Calder, mathematician Allan Calder, educationist Isla Calder (1946–2000) and teacher Fiona Rudd (née Calder). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony Blair's Premiership of Tony Blair, government from 1997 to 2007, and was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 2015, first for Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency), Dunfermline East and later for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (UK Parliament constituency), Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. He is the most recent Labour politician as well as the most recent Scottish politician to hold the office of prime minister. A Doctor of Philosophy, doctoral graduate, Brown studied history at the University of Edinburgh, where he was elected Rector of the University of Edinburgh, Rector in 1972. He spent his early career working as both a lecturer at a further education college and a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hare (playwright)
Sir David Hare is an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre and film director. Best known for his stage work, Hare has also enjoyed great success with films, receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing ''The Hours'''' ''in 2002, based on the novel written by Michael Cunningham, and ''The Reader'''' ''in 2008, based on the novel of the same name written by Bernhard Schlink. In the West End, he had his greatest success with the plays'' Plenty'' (1978), which he adapted into a 1985 film starring Meryl Streep, ''Racing Demon'' (1990), ''Skylight'' (1997), and ''Amy's View'' (1998). The four plays ran on Broadway in 1982–83, 1996, 1998 and 1999 respectively, earning Hare three Tony Award nominations for Best Play for the first three and two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best New Play. Other notable projects on stage include ''A Map of the World'', ''Pravda'' (starring Anthony Hopkins at the National Theatre in London), ''Murmu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Eyre
Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Biography Eyre was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, the son of Richard Galfridus Hastings Giles Eyre and his wife, Minna Mary Jessica Royds. He was educated at Sherborne School, an independent school for boys in the market town of Sherborne in northwest Dorset in southwest England, followed by Peterhouse at the University of Cambridge. Eyre became the first president of Rose Bruford College in July 2010. He gives "President's Lectures" at this prestigious drama school; his 2012 talk was entitled "Directing Shakespeare for BBC Television". He lives in Brook Green, West London. Theatre and opera Eyre was Associate Director at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh from 1967 to 1972. He won STV Awards for the Best Production in Scotland in 1969, 1970 and 1971. He was artistic director of Nottingham Playhouse from 1973–78 where he commissioned and directed many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular History
Popular history is a broad genre of historiography that takes a popular approach, aims at a wide readership, and usually emphasizes narrative, personality and vivid detail over scholarly analysis. The term is used in contradistinction to professional academic or scholarly history writing which is usually more specialized and technical and, thus, less accessible to the general reader. Conceptualizations It is proposed that popular history is a "moral science" in the sense that recreates the past not only for its own sake but also to underscore how history could facilitate an ethically responsible present. Some view it as history produced by authors who are better interlocutors capable of translating the language of scientificity to ordinary everyday language. Some scholars partly attributed the development of popular history to the increase of writers-turned-historians such as Benson Lossing, David Pae, and Mary Botham Howitt, who wrote historical events "in good style" and, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Literary Award
A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Many awards are structured with one organization (usually a non-profit organization) as the presenter and public face of the award, and another organization as the financial sponsor or backer, who pays the prize remuneration and the cost of the ceremony and public relations, typically a corporate sponsor who may sometimes attach their name to the award (such as the Orange Prize). Types of awards There are awards for various writing formats including poetry and novels. Many awards are also dedicated to a certain genre of fiction or non-fiction writing (such as science fiction or politics). There are also awards dedicated to works in individual languages, such as the Miguel de Cervantes Prize (Spanish), the Camões Prize (Portuguese), the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom.John Llewellyn Rhys Prize "John Llewellyn Rhys Prize" Booktrust. Retrieved 29 January 2011. Established in 1942, it is one of the oldest literary awards in the UK. Since 2011 the award has been suspended due to funding problems. The last award was in 2010.Alison Flood "John Llewellyn Rhys prize 'suspended'" [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation for high quality design and production and a fine list of English-language authors, fostered by the firm's editor and reader Edward Garnett. Cape's list of writers ranged from poets including Robert Frost and C. Day Lewis, to children's authors such as Hugh Lofting and Arthur Ransome, to James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, to heavyweight fiction by James Joyce and T. E. Lawrence. After Cape's death, the firm later merged successively with three other London publishing houses. In 1987 it was taken over by Random House. Its name continues as one of Random House's British imprints. Cape – biography Early years Herbert Jonathan Cape was born in London on 15 November 1879, the youngest of the seven children of Jonathan Cape, a clerk from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom Home Front During World War II
The United Kingdom home front during World War II covers the political, social and economic history during 1939–1945. The war was very expensive. It was paid for by high taxes, by selling off assets, and by accepting large amounts of Lend Lease from the U.S. and Canada. The US gave $30 billion in munitions; Canada also gave aid. The American and Canadian aid did not have to be repaid, but there were also American loans that were repaid. Britain's total mobilisation during this period proved to be successful in winning the war, by maintaining strong support from public opinion. The war was a "people's war" that enlarged democratic aspirations and produced promises of a better Britain after the war. The media called it a "people's war"—a term that caught on and signified the popular demand for planning and an expanded welfare state. Indeed by 1945 the Post-war consensus emerged that did deliver a welfare state. The Royal family played major symbolic roles in the war. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asa Briggs
Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the Victorian era, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his long and prolific career for examining various aspects of modern British history. He became a life peer in 1976. Early life Asa Briggs was born in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1921 to William Briggs, an engineer, and his wife Jane. He was educated at Keighley Boys' Grammar School and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA (first class) in History, in 1941, and a BSc in Economics (first class) from the University of London External Programme, also in 1941. Military service During the Second World War, from 1942 to 1945, Briggs served in the Intelligence Corps and worked at the British wartime codebreaking station, Bletchley Park. He was a member of "the Watch" in Hut 6, the section deciphering Enigma machine messa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mass-Observation
Mass-Observation is a United Kingdom social research project; originally the name of an organisation which ran from 1937 to the mid-1960s, and was revived in 1981 at the University of Sussex. Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday life in Britain through a panel of around 500 untrained volunteer observers who either maintained diaries or replied to open-ended questionnaires (known as directives). The organisation also paid investigators to anonymously record people's conversation and behaviour at work, on the street and at various public occasions, including public meetings and sporting and religious events. Origins The creators of the Mass-Observation project were three former students from Cambridge: anthropologist Tom Harrisson (who left Cambridge before graduating), poet Charles Madge and filmmaker Humphrey Jennings. Collaborators included literary critic William Empson, photographers Humphrey Spender and Michael Wickham, collagist Julian Trevelyan, novelists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
