Mike Brown: 38 books

The solar system most of us grew up with included nine planets, with Mercury closest to the sun and Pluto at the outer edge. Then, in 2005, astronomer Mike Brown made the discovery of a lifetime: a tenth planet, Eris, slightly bigger than Pluto. But instead of adding one more planet to our solar system,...

The outbreak of war in 1939 saw the disappearance of many traditional British celebrations. Guy Fawkes’ Night went immediately—gunpowder production was needed for the war effort and bonfires contravened the blackout. Summer holidays became a thing of the past and Easter all but disappeared as...

When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, it came as no surprise to the children of Germany: the Nazis had been preparing them for a war ever since they had come to power in 1933. To British children it was an altogether different matter. Children all over Britain were deeply affected...

As the last days of peace ebbed away in 1939 and the outbreak of the Second World War appeared inevitable, a massive exodus took place in Britain: nearly two million civilians, most of them children, were taken from the cities, industrial towns and ports to the relative safety of the British countryside....

In the summer of 1914, Britain felt secure that the old order was firmly in place. Britain, through its navy, ruled the waves, and a fair part of the world through its Empire. Yet this security was an illusion, a war of unimaginable scale was just days away. The war would affect every level of British...

When peace finally returned to Europe in 1945, the perceptions of how victory over Nazism was to be celebrated and what post-war Britain should look like were very different from the visions the people and the politicians had in 1940. Mike Brown examines the milestone events that led to the nation's...

The First World War was the first global war and when it broke out in 1914, the civilian population of Britain was exhorted to carry on with ‘Business, as usual’. But the war soon began to affect civilian life. The war brought excitement, danger and fear for Britain’s children: Zeppelins, air...

Join the Army. See the World. Drive a tank! Pat O’Neil had been fascinated with tanks for as long as he could remember, so joining the Army when he graduated from high school in 1975 seemed pretty natural to him. Jake Leibermann “knew from nothing about tanks”, but he was fairly certain that...

Join the Army. See the World. Drive a tank! Pat O’Neil had been fascinated with tanks for as long as he could remember, so joining the Army when he graduated from high school in 1975 seemed pretty natural to him. Jake Leibermann “knew from nothing about tanks”, but he was fairly certain that...

Join the Army. See the World. Drive a tank! Pat O’Neil had been fascinated with tanks for as long as he could remember, so joining the Army when he graduated from high school in 1975 seemed pretty natural to him. Jake Leibermann “knew from nothing about tanks”, but he was fairly certain that...

Join the Army. See the World. Drive a tank! Pat O’Neil had been fascinated with tanks for as long as he could remember, so joining the Army when he graduated from high school in 1975 seemed pretty natural to him. Jake Leibermann “knew from nothing about tanks”, but he was fairly certain that...

The demands of a nation at war had many far-reaching effects on the average home. How did women cope with bringing up a family single-handed after their husbands were conscripted for military service? How did they use the rations and keep up their family’s spirits? What was it like to "Make...

On 3 September 1939, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sat tensely at a microphone, using radio to declare that 'this country is at war with Germany'. During the ensuing wartime years, the BBC was the sole radio broadcaster in Britain, boosting morale through programmes such as 'ITMA' and 'Worker's...

Adventurous Learning interrogates the word ‘adventure’ and explores how elements of authenticity, agency, uncertainty and mastery can be incorporated into educational practices. It outlines key elements for a pedagogy of adventurous learning and provides guidelines grounded in accessible theory....