Social

The Reformation and the Red Light

Nicholas Orme shows how Catholic and Protestant reformers alike campaigned rigorously against medieval attitudes to prostitution which were far less restrictive and oppressive than is often supposed.

Black Families in the American Civil War

The newly-found voices of the slaves caught up in the American Civil War, and heard through letters to their families, are a testimony to their tenacity and unity in the struggle for emancipation.

Medieval Christmas

Existing elements of pagan midwinter rites fused with the developing theology of Christmas in an appeal to the senses of both sacred and lay.

'Woodbine Willie': Religion and Politics after the Great War

Gerald Kennedy shows how a fear of revolution and the growing strength of organised labour created tensions in Britain after the end of the First World War. Men such as 'Woodbine Willie' attempted to defuse the situation by preaching the gospel of 'Christian Socialism' at mass meetings across the country.