The building of reservoirs in England and Wales was key to urban growth across the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. In this post, Andrew McTominey introduces his new book—'Waterscapes: Reservoirs, Environment and Identity in Modern England and Wales'—which is published in the Society’s ‘New Historical Perspectives’ series with University of London Press. Drawing on methods from environmental history, cultural history and historical geography, Andrew's book explores th...| Historical Transactions
In this post, Eve Pennington describes the use and value of oral history in her study of the Lancashire new town of Skelmersdale. As Eve argues, oral history offers creative approaches to urban history, helping us better appreciate the motivations, expectations and actions of residents. The result is a narrative of urban development that is often at odds with those found in the official reports of planners and councils. In 2024-25, Eve held a Royal Historical Society Centenary PhD Fellowship....| Historical Transactions
Preserved in the Dutch town of Breda, an unassuming manuscript offers exceptional insights into the way that vikings were (re)conceived during the later medieval period – their memory built on a historical bedrock that never was. In this post, Christian Cooijmans delves into the rich tale of the Dane Saga (‘Denensage’), exploring through this text the development of urban social memory in the late medieval Dutch town of Breda. Christian's research, funded by the recent award of a Royal ...| Historical Transactions
Helen Newsome-Chandler introduces her new volume in the Society’s Camden Series, 'The Holograph Letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots (1489-1541)', published in August 2025. This volume presents the surviving holograph correspondence of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots as a stand-alone edition for the first time. The 111 holograph letters and 4 ‘hybrid’ letters form an unprecedented epistolary archive, featuring the largest collection of holograph correspondence written in English or ...| Historical Transactions
In April 2023, eighteen scholars from a range of disciplinary backgrounds in the humanities, natural and social sciences came together for a one-day workshop to study past environmental change and its effects on human societies. Selected conversations from this workshop have recently been published as 'The Future of (Environmental History', a roundtable article in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'. To mark publication, Alex Hibberts identifies four suggestions for the future of...| Historical Transactions
Each year the Royal Historical Society holds elections to appoint three current Fellows as new members to its Council. The Council is the Society’s governing body, with responsibility for the objectives and work of the RHS. The election round for 2025 is now open, with an invitation to all RHS Fellows to submit nominations to stand in this year’s ballot. All Councillors are Fellows of the Society, and those seeking election must also be current Fellows. If you’re a Fellow, and interest...| Historical Transactions
How do UK history undergraduates routinely use generative AI in the classroom? In this post David Clayton, Henrice Altink and Esther Wright (University of York) review the findings of their recent research project: 'Piloting the responsible and effective use of generative AI in undergraduate History Teaching'. This project asked students to answer a seminar question and to generate ideas for an undergraduate dissertation using Gen AI. The study succeeded in making students aware of the shortc...| Historical Transactions
Historian Virginia Berridge has recently completed her term as a deputy chair of the London Drugs Commission, which published its report, 'The Cannabis Conundrum', in May of this year. Established by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, the commission investigated the implications of the non-medical use of cannabis in the capital and the impact of the current laws which govern it. Virginia brought a historian's perspective to an investigation otherwise dominated by legal specialists. To be a hist...| Historical Transactions
In May 2025, members of the Royal Historical Society's Council visited the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus, Penryn, as part of the Society's annual programme of visits to departments across the UK. Visits are a chance to meet not just with historians working across the university, and with university managers, but also with undergraduate and postgraduate students to learn more about their experience of study. In this post we hear from Charlotte Arthurs, a final year History and Polit...| Historical Transactions
In this post Michael Taylor introduces his new volume in the Royal Historical Society's Camden Series, 'The Papers of Admiral George Grey', published in June 2025. The volume presents the memoir, journal, and correspondence of George Grey (1809-1891), son of the Whig prime minister Earl Grey. It documents the Grey family’s experience of the Whig ministry of 1830–1834, and George Grey’s own naval career which took him from the Battle of Navarino during the Greek War of Independence, to a...| Historical Transactions