History@Portsmouth

University of Portsmouth's History Blog

Author Archive | Robert James

mature students

Learning is for life – a guide for the mature student

By on February 28, 2018 in Learning in Focus

Nicholas Hawkins, first year History and Politics student at the University of Portsmouth, has written the following blog on what it’s like to start university as a mature student. Reflecting on many of the things that concern mature students when contemplating a return to education – family commitments, finance, fitting in – Nick offers a candid account of his journey from prospective student to a first-year undergrad experiencing his first few months at university.  In my last year at school I was taught in the new ROSLA block which stood for “Raising of the School Leaving Age” as Ted Heath had done just that in 1972, from 15 to 16. […]

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‘Read for Victory’: Public Libraries and Book Reading in a British Naval Port City during the Second World War

By on February 27, 2018 in New Publications

Dr Robert James, Senior Lecturer in History, has recently published an article in the journal Cultural and Social History on the role of public libraries in the naval town of Portsmouth, UK during the Second World War. See below for the abstract, and if you want to read the article, click here. Abstract: In 1942 a library official in Portsmouth, UK appealed to the city’s inhabitants to ‘read for victory’, believing that they had a duty to use their reading time productively as part of their wartime activities. This article argues that long-standing desires among the country’s political and civic elites to encourage the nation’s readers to spend their leisure time prudently intensified […]

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By photographer not identified - This is photograph Q 114833 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 8502-08 [1]), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2872345

Don’t believe everything you read…

By on February 5, 2018 in Public History, Research in Focus

Dr Rob James, Senior Lecturer in History, recently worked with a local community group, Portsdown U3A, on a Heritage Lottery Funded project that sought to find out the impact of the Battle of Jutland on the people of Portsmouth and the local area. With the help of research assistant and PhD student John Bolt, and a team of Online Course Developers at the University, Dr James created an online map using the data collected by members or Portsdown U3A. One of the most interesting findings made by the U3A when conducting their research was that one celebrated V.C. holder – Commander Loftus William Jones – was born in Portsmouth, not […]

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Skylark launch

Using Oral Sources: Recovering the history of the Skylark rocket

By on January 17, 2018 in Learning in Focus

Daniel Millard, a second year History student at the University of Portsmouth, wrote the following blog entry on how historians can use oral history testimony to reflect on Britain’s attempts to enter the ‘space race’ in the late-1950s for the Introduction to Historical Research Unit.  The unit is co-ordinated by Dr Maria Cannon, Lecturer in Early Modern History at Portsmouth. In 1957 Britain entered the space race with the launch of the Skylark sounding rocket. Conceived at a time when the nation was seeking to develop ballistic missile capabilities Skylark quickly positioned itself as a valuable research tool with which to help scientists unlock secrets from above the Earth’s upper atmosphere. […]

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History Research Seminars Winter/Spring 2018

By on January 8, 2018 in Events, News

Every year, the History team at Portsmouth organise a series of research seminars that take place across the autumn, winter and spring terms. Historians are invited from a range of institutions, both in Britain and abroad, to talk about their latest research projects. The subjects presented cover a broad historical timespan and offer insight into a diverse range of topics. This winter/spring there will be talks on the 1924 Pageant of Empire, women’s history, black abolitionist campaigners, neighbourliness and gossip in the Tudor period, and convict workers in Britain’s imperial dockyards. All are welcome to attend. Winter 2018   Wednesday 17th January, 4:00-5:30pm. Room: Burnaby Building 1.25 The 1924 Pageant of Empire: Modernity, spectacle […]

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‘Pleasure in reading is the true function of all books’: Cultural critics, public librarians, and working-class reading in early-twentieth century Britain

By on January 8, 2018 in New Publications, Research in Focus

In this blog Dr Rob James, Senior Lecturer in History, looks at the growth of reading as a leisure activity among the working classes in Britain during the early twentieth century and considers how broader society viewed this expansion. Rob specialises in researching people’s leisure practices, and teaches a number of units that focus on one of the most popular leisure pursuits of the first half of the twentieth century, going to the cinema. Do you ever think about how other people view the books you choose to read? Over the course of the last hundred or so years, people’s reading habits have been subject to intense scrutiny, particularly the […]

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