Radical History Blog

Born today in 1812, Charles Dickens remains a literary giant, but he didn’t only write to sell books – he wrote to change the world. Charles Dickens was an author on a mission.

Today in 1948, Gandhi was assassinated. His vision is still urgent, for South Asia and for the whole world.

108 years ago, Anna LoPizzo was murdered for going on strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Today in 1912, an Italian-American woman was killed in Massachusetts. She was a victim of war. Not war between nations, but between classes.

It’s 70 years since the death of George Orwell. In these times of mass disinformation, a man so committed to the value of truth is well worth remembering.

On this day in 1919, the towering socialist Rosa Luxemburg was murdered by the German Far Right. The life of an outspoken progressive has rarely been a safe one.

The power of a speech is very often overlooked. Indeed, rhetorical skill and oratorical eloquence are often seen as instruments of deception rather than sources of inspiration.

On Clement Attlee’s birthday, let’s remember how he helped to rebuild the Labour Party from bitter defeat in 1931 to stunning victory in 1945. A source of hope in our times.

On this day in 1890, a working-class kid called Karl Artelt was born near Magdeburg, Germany. Thirty years later he led the naval mutiny which brought down Kaiser Wilhelm and ended the First World War.

The day after Christmas 1936 hundreds of American volunteers set sail for Spain, joining the international fight to save the country from fascism.

It's International Tea Day! Obviously we're going to talk about the Radical History of Tea. More and more histories are being written about food. (Curdella Forbes), (William Rubel), (Sophie and Michael Coe). The list goes on and on.