The relationship between rugby league and television has never been easy. Now it’s Channel 4s turn to shake things up It was March 1976, and Britain was on the brink of change. In Westminster, shockwaves ripped through the political world when the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, handed in his resignation to the Queen. Having been … Continue reading Seize the Day: Channel 4 and the Revival of Rugby League on TV
Author: Anthony Broxton
Warren’s Reflections: Life as a Labour Organiser in Thatcher’s Britain
By David Warren It was the Winter of 1981. And with Margaret Thatcher's premiership on the ropes, I arrived in the town of Newbury. I was seventeen, unemployed and eager to change the world around me. So I joined the Labour Party and attended my first branch meeting in the Labour Club near the Railway … Continue reading Warren’s Reflections: Life as a Labour Organiser in Thatcher’s Britain
“I’ve ad enough of this, I ave”: Bevin, NATO and the Russian Threat
“Think Once, Think Twice”: Ernest Bevin and the Creation of NATO. By James A. S. Sunderland An expansionist Russia sweeps through Eastern Europe, a weary America - seemingly unwilling to shoulder heavy foreign military burdens - turns increasingly away from the international stage, and a small coterie on the left in Britain seek to defend … Continue reading “I’ve ad enough of this, I ave”: Bevin, NATO and the Russian Threat
Southern Discomfort: Rugby League in London
London was once seen as essential to the revival of rugby league in England. But as the Broncos begin a new life at AFC Wimbledon, has the game finally given up on the capital? It was the morning after the 1979 Challenge Cup final, and the Warrington Director Harold Genders was sitting in the room … Continue reading Southern Discomfort: Rugby League in London
How the Labour Party used History to win in 1997
25 years on from the landslide, a University of Warwick Undergraduate Research Support Scheme project supervised by Dr Simon Peplow and conducted by Will Barber Taylor has now been officially launched. On behalf of Will Barber Taylor The aim of the project was and is to explore the extent to which history influenced the Labour … Continue reading How the Labour Party used History to win in 1997
Rethinking Labour’s Past: History of Sleaze Event (Jan 31st @ 6pm)
A Rethinking Labour's Past event from Progressive Britain, Tides of History and the Labour History Research Unit at Anglia Ruskin About this event How does the Tory sleaze of the 2020s compare with the Tory sleaze of the past? What do people think and what does the data tell us? What was it like being … Continue reading Rethinking Labour’s Past: History of Sleaze Event (Jan 31st @ 6pm)
Podcast: Class and the Politics of English Rugby League
As a companion piece to our Chapeltown Road chapter of the Super League War, Michael chats to British labour historian Anthony Broxton about Thatcherism, striking miners, economic depression and how it all relates to Rugby League in England. Was a pleasure to be invited on to the Rugby League Digest podacst this year to talk … Continue reading Podcast: Class and the Politics of English Rugby League
Thatcher’s Britain: The strike that saved Only Fools and Horses and changed TV history
Celebrating the genius of Only Fools and Horses on its 40th anniversary - but it almost never survived its early struggles in depicting Thatcher's Britain. It was the summer of 1983, and John Sullivan was on a caravan holiday in Hastings with his wife and two children. It had been a difficult few months for … Continue reading Thatcher’s Britain: The strike that saved Only Fools and Horses and changed TV history
Tides of History 