The strath report: britain confronts the H‐Bomb, 1954–1955

Late in 1954, the British government convened a secret committee of civil servants to explore the implications of the hydrogen bomb for Britain in a nuclear war. Headed by William Strath, this small and secret cadre of experts thought through the destruction that would follow a thermonuclear attack on the UK. This paper examines the recently declassified “Strath Report” and its ramifications. Drawing on intelligence assessments, technical analysis and economic predictions, its conclusions were profoundly pessimistic. Its portrayal of widespread devastation and the likely collapse of civil society shocked politicians and government officials, and led not only to massive revisions in the UK's plans for war but to official attempts to suppress public discussion of thermonuclear weapons and civil defence.     

Life in the kitchen: Television advertising,the housewife and domestic modernity in Britain, 1955–1969

The modern kitchen was emblematic of a cold war obsession with household consumer durables as a measure of national progress. Its roots lay in a largely American idea of the ‘new household’ and the modern housewife. The article explores how television advertising in Britain played its part in helping to promote these co-joined aspects of the cross-Atlantic domestic ideal. In pursuing this argument, the article emphasises the way American domestic ideals took distinctive directions in Britain. Contributing to this adaptation of American ideals was a range of home-grown influences that shaped the remaking of the post-war home and women’s social role.     

The origins of the Brazilian nuclear programme, 1951–1955

In the early years of the atomic era, several developing countries attempted to establish a nuclear programme, yet Brazil's case is less well-known. As new documents show, from 1951 Brazil aimed to acquire the nuclear fuel cycle capability in spite of legislation imposed by the United States to limit the emergence of new nuclear powers. This article will analyse the origins of the Brazilian nuclear programme from 1951 to 1955 and will explore its cooperation in the atomic field with international partners.     

The cybernetic moment: Roy Ascott and the British cybernetic pioneers, 1955–1965

ABSTRACT

Professor Roy Ascott developed the Ground Course at Ealing College of Art, drawing on his experience of Basic Design under Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton at Newcastle University. Through his reading of Ross Ashby and his friendship with Gordon Pask, Ascott introduced cybernetic theory into his art practice and pedagogy. This essay explores the degree to which Ascott embodied a distinctly British approach to cybernetics.     

The center and the edge: Archaeology in Belize, 1809–1992

The archaeological history of Belize now spans, in a sense, 183 years. For all but the past quarter-century of that time, research in the country has ranged from sporadic to nonexistent. In recent years, however, forces both internal and external to Belize have brought about an explosion of fieldwork and reporting, as well as wide-ranging analyses, problem-focused studies, and the beginnings of placement of Belize in a theoretical frame. Review of the development of archaeological research in the country establishes a base on which to rest discussion of themes in current work, as well as the impact of Belizean data as regards changes in our assessment of Maya prehistory as a whole.     

France and the New World Order, 1940–1947

Using a number of archive sources concentrating on the Occupation years and the period just after the Liberation, this article throws light on the contribution of France to the ‘New World Order’, a concept normally thought of as ‘Anglo-Saxon’ or ‘Anglo-American’. Even in defeat, those looking forward to the reconstruction of France in the postwar period considered a number of approaches as to how a French state-oriented system would work in a world which would supposedly be dominated by American-style liberal capitalism.