Imogen Holbrook - Year 12 Student Editor's Note: The New College of Humanities (NCH) organise an annual essay competition open to ambitious and talented students from around the world who are in their penultimate year of secondary education (equivalent to Year 12 in the UK). This is an opportunity to show both academic potential and … Continue reading How has warfare changed since WWII?
Jamie Smallbone - Year 12 Student Mongol - the name is synonymous with bloodshed, pillaging and conquest. Was Genghis Khan simply a merciless butcher or a man we should admire as one of the most successful ever exponents of a particular moral framework? Genghis Khan is commonly portrayed in our modern western society as a … Continue reading Genghis Khan: A Dastardly Villain?
Mr Yates - Head of Academic Extension & Oxbridge All students in Y7-Y9 are invited to attempt any one of the three questions below. Answers must not be more than 1,200 words (including any footnotes but excluding bibliographies). Answers should be submitted as Word attachments by email to sy@gsal.org.uk by no later than 4.00pm on … Continue reading Year 7-9 Essay Competition 2020
Eshana Dasanjh - Year 11 Student History is determined by those who write it. As Napoleon once said, ‘What is history, but a fable agreed upon?’ Many parts of history are often forgotten, downplayed, or repressed, and nowhere is this more fitting than in the turbulent history of the British Empire. Instead of recognising the … Continue reading The Censorship of the History of the British Empire
Mei Whattam - Year 12 Student & Chief Editor, Humanities Journal Feminist. An advocate for women's rights on the grounds of gender parity. Pirate. An individual who commits illegal acts at sea, including robbery, kidnap and torture. In this lies Ching Shih’s great enigma: she was unquestionably successful in protecting female status and upending the … Continue reading Was Ching Shih a brutal renegade or a visionary feminist?
Elle Fang - Year 13 Historian Outstanding current Year 13 history student Elle Fang recently entered the New College of Humanities (NCH) essay competition. Her excellent essay exploring the contemporary relevance and role of historical study was Highly Commended in the History group; it was one of only four to win a category prize from … Continue reading Can history teach us lessons?
Julian Wood - GSAL Alumnus & Oxford Graduate Outstanding GSAL alumnus Julian Wood has recently graduated from Pembroke College, Oxford, with a degree in History & English. During his time in the Sixth Form at school, under the expert supervision of recently-retired deputy head Mr Lunn, Julian undertook an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ); here, Julian … Continue reading De-mystifying the Despot: An EPQ Journey from West Yunnan to West Yorkshire
Tessa Grainger - Year 8 Historian Tessa Grainger (Year 8) has written a short story for the Historical Association Historical Fiction Competition 2019. Historical fiction allows students to use their historical imagination to bring the past to life and to creatively fill some of the many gaps left by the written records that have survived. … Continue reading Missing: The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Izzy Smith - Year 8 Historian Izzy Smith (Year 8) has written a short story for the Historical Association Historical Fiction Competition 2019. Historical fiction allows students to use their historical imagination to bring the past to life and to creatively fill some of the many gaps left by the written records that have survived. … Continue reading The Children of the Revolution
Matthew Abel - Year 10 Student Matthew Abel (Year 10) writes on the theme of 'Security', in response to the recent One Word essay writing competition advertised in The GSAL Journal. Matthew's chosen topic is the cryptanalysis of the famous Enigma ciphering machine that proved to be so critical in the outcome of World War … Continue reading The Cryptanalysis of Enigma
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