The National Archives Podcast Series

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

The National Archives holds one of the largest and most important accumulations of maps in the world. They document the United Kingdom's involvement in shaping boundaries and in resolving boundary disputes over many centuries, either as a colonial power, neutral observer or independent source of surveying expertise. Rose Mitchell looks at how the process has been documented, from letters and reports to treaties, drawing on maps and surveys which made lines across sand, snow, water, forests, plains and mountains around the globe. Rose Mitchell is a map curator at The National Archives. She is co-author of Maps: their untold stories.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Matthew Parris and Andrew Bryson discuss their new book, The Spanish ambassador's suitcase. Matthew Parris worked for the Foreign Office and the Conservative Research Department before serving as MP for West Derbyshire. He joined The Times as parliamentary sketchwriter in 1988, a post he held for 13 years, and he now writes as a columnist for the paper. He broadcasts for radio and television, and presents the biographical programme Great Lives on BBC Radio 4. He is also a regular columnist for The Spectator. Andrew Bryson is a radio journalist working in the BBC's Business and Economics Unit. He frequently produces Radio 4's Today programme and programmes for Radio 5 Live. This podcast was recorded live as part of the Writer of the month series, which broadens awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. We apologise for any intermittent reduction in sound quality.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Visualisation is widely believed to bring many benefits, assisting us in making sense of all kinds of information. To try to make diagrams of history - using timelines or some other kind of chronographics - may seem a simple task. We might regard time as 'obviously' linear, as 'naturally' flowing from left to right. But what shape should history be? Stephen's talk focuses primarily on the period in the mid-eighteenth century when the modern timeline was invented - tracing its typographic, pictorial and other roots and setting it in its intellectual context. He also gives some insights into the advances we can now achieve when chronographics are made digital and interactive. This will include asking: what are the requirements of such tools for serious historical work? Stephen Boyd Davis is professor of Design Research at the Royal College of Art. His own work is concerned with visualisation, in which he is directing research students working with museums and archives.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Contemporary records specialists Mark Dunton and Simon Demissie discuss the latest batch of government records to be released to The National Archives. The years were 1985 and 1986. Introduced by Rebecca Simpson.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Any mention of football and the First World War will evoke the Christmas Truce of 1914 and the football match played in No Man's Land. At the time many denied that a truce had occurred, let alone a football match between the combatants. This talk uses British Army War Diaries, individual soldier's diaries, letters and newspapers to examine how citizen diplomacy apparently subverted the wishes of higher command, at least temporarily, to possibly have allowed some soldiers to enjoy a game for Christmas. Iain Adams is the Principal Lecturer at the International Football Institute, a research partnership between The University of Central Lancashire and The National Football Museum. He lectures in sports history and culture and has published papers on the Christmas Truce and the football charges of the Great War.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

Dr Tracy Borman, author, historian and broadcaster, discusses her biography of Thomas Cromwell. The National Archives hosts a series of monthly talks to broaden awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. Each month, a high-profile author talks about using original records in their writing. Dr Tracy Borman's previous books include: the highly acclaimed Elizabeth's Women: the Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen; Matilda: Queen of the Conqueror; and Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction. Tracy has recently been appointed interim Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces and is also Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council's Cultural Value Project was set up late in 2012 to address the dissatisfaction with the ways in which we understand and articulate the benefits of arts and culture. These tended to concentrate on the publicly-funded arts and, for that reason, were shaped by the demands of advocacy. For the same reason they increasingly came to focus on the economic benefits because it was believed that that was what governments wished to hear. Professor Geoffrey Crossick presents an overview of the project. His talk indicates the range of research that it has funded and, in doing so, identifies the projects that have focused on archives, heritage and history. Professor Geoffrey Crossick is Director of the AHRC's Cultural Value Project and Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. He is a historian and his main area of research has been the urban social history of 19th and 20th century Britain and continental Europe.

Lectures, discussions, talks and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.