Teaching
History Online
Number
87: 25th May, 2003
Introduction
1.
Encouraging
History Teachers To Use ICT
2.
Spies
and Spymasters
3.
Walter
Krivitsky
4.
Secret
Service Bureau
5.
Historical
Atlas of the Twentieth Century
6.
Historical
Atlas of Europe
7. History
Online
8. World
War II Memories
9. All
the King's Women
Introduction
Spartacus Educational
publishes Teaching
History Online every week. The newsletter includes news, reviews
of websites and articles on using ICT in the history classroom. Members
of the mailing list are
invited to submit information for inclusion in future editions of
Teaching
History Online. In this way we hope to create a community
of people involved in using the Internet to teach history. Currently
there are 27,830 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
spartacus@pavilion.co.uk
Encouraging
History Teachers To Use ICT: A survey carried out in 1999 discovered
that the main reason teachers used computers in their teaching was
because they felt they ought to. History, the same as every national
curriculum subject, has clear requirements to use ICT. It seems that
history teachers thus feel a burden to make use of ICT. In this seminar
Andrew Field suggests how history teachers can be encouraged to make
use of ICT in their lessons. The fundamental approach is not backed
up by the notion"because they have to", but rather the infinitely
preferable "because of the benefits". If
you have views on this subject, register
with the History Forum and join the debate.
Spies
and Spymasters: Fifty-eight biographies of spies and those people
employed by the State to catch them. This includes George Blake, Anthony
Blunt, Maurice Buckmaster, Guy Burgess, Mansfield Cumming, Claude
Dansey, Ian Fleming,
Klaus Fuchs, Roger Hollis, Vernon Kell, Tyler Kent, Maxwell Knight,
Walter Krivitsky, John Le Carre, Guy Liddell, Gordon Lonsdale, Donald
Maclean, Leo Marks, Allan Nunn May, Stewart Menzies, Maurice Oldfield,
Oleg Penkovsky, Kim Philby, Sidney Reilly, Percy Sillitoe, Dick White,
Anna Wolkoff, Peter Wright and Greville Wynne.
Walter
Krivitsky: In 1937 Walter Krivitsky, the most senior Soviet spy
based in Western Europe, defected to the West. He contacted the FBI
and gave details of 61 agents working in Britain. Interviewed by MI5
Krivitsky claimed
he did not know the names of these agents but described one as being
a journalist who had worked for a British newspaper during the Spanish
Civil War. Another was described as "a Scotsman of good family,
educated at Eton and Oxford, and an idealist who worked for the Russians
without payment." These descriptions fitted Kim
Philby and Donald Maclean. However, MI5 was not convinced by
Krivitsky's testimony and his leads were not followed up. Soon afterwards
Krivitsky was murdered by Soviet agents in the Bellevue Hotel in Washington.
Under the Freedom of Information Act the FBI have now released 570
pages of information on Walter Krivitsky and these can now be accessed
from their website.
Secret
Service Bureau: In October 1909, following a recommendation by
the Committee of Imperial Defence which had been considering the danger
to British naval ports from German espionage, Captain Vernon Kell
of the South Staffordshire Regiment and Captain Mansfield Cumming
of the Royal Navy jointly established the Secret Service Bureau. To
meet an additional requirement from the Admiralty for information
about Germany’s new navy, Kell and Cumming decided to divide
their work. Thereafter, ‘K’ was responsible for counter-espionage
within the British Isles (MI5) while ‘C’ was responsible
for gathering intelligence overseas (MI6). This website provides the
official history of the Secret Service in Britain.
Historical
Atlas of the Twentieth Century: An impressive collection of historical
maps can be found on Matthew Hope's outstanding website. Many of these
maps are interactive. If you click on a place, you might zoom in and
get more detail. Similarly, if you click on the legend to a map, you
might get a more detailed explanation of the topic. Clicking on the
Contemporary Context button bar will zoom out to show what's happening
in the world at this time in a specific field of human activity. The
icons symbolize Cities, Government, War, International Relations,
Living Conditions and Economics. Although the atlas is non-linear
in overall design, its backbone is probably the series of maps illustrating
national political systems, so this is probably the best place to
start if you have no particular topic you're curious about.
Historical
Atlas of Europe: The maps on this site give you an overview of
the political changes that have shaped the map of Europe for the last
350 years. Every map is accompanied by a text that explains the changes
and developments that have taken place over the years. There is a
section about the unifications of Germany and Italy in the nineteenth
century. A recent addition concerns the former Yugoslavia. It includes
texts on the wars that took place there in the 1990's, with an ethnographic
sketch of that country to improve insight in the rather complicated
intrigues that have taken place there over the last ten years. Also
maps on the growth and decline of that nation have been added.
History
Online: This website is being developed by the Institute of Historical
Research (IHR). History Online provides high-quality information resources
for the teaching and learning of history. There are currently over
40,000 records providing details of books and articles, UK university
lecturers, UK current and past research, and evaluated links to web
sites and online resources. Material can be located via title and
author searches, or by historical theme, place, and period.
World
War II Memories: Krista Salter's website is dedicated to an English
father and Austrian mother and many others who were a part of the
Second World War. Do you have memories that you would like to share?
If so, please contact Krista Salter via the Feedback button. The website
also includes links and section aiming to help family and friends
find information on war veterans.
Book
Section
All
the King's Women: The image of Charles II as a promiscuous monarch
who dragged the crown through the moral mire and irredeemably weakened
its position has persisted throughout the last three centuries. That
judgment, according to Derek Wilson, is fair as far as it goes. The
Restoration court did set an example of cynical libertinism that provoked
opposition not only from outraged preachers but also satirical journalists
and angry mobs who pelted royal mistresses and burned down brothels.
But the author argues that Charles' bedroom antics are symptoms and
not the causes of social decadence. (Derek Wilson, Hutchinson, ISBN
0 09 179379 3, £20.00)
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
