Peter West

Talks & Lectures

Talks given to groups of interested people in and around the Midlands.

This talk sets Holbein’s great and very popular painting in its artistic, social, economic, religious and political context, focusing on the circumstances of the Spring and Summer of 1533 when it was actually painted.

Decoding The Ambassadors

This talk sets Holbein’s great and very popular painting in its artistic, social, economic, religious and political context, focusing on the circumstances of the Spring and Summer of 1533 when it was actually painted.

The Coronation of Charlemagne, AD 800

An examination of the nature of and a justification for democratic government, looking at how it grew significantly in England (and Britain), as well as a discussion of some of its problems, such as electoral systems and the value of referenda.

Parliament and Democracy

Mostly focused on Birmingham, this talk considers the impact of technical developments (including sound and colour), cinema-going habits, the proliferation of cinemas, the growth of cinema chains, tastes in movies and the work of some key pioneers (Anthony Asquith, John Maxwell, Oscar Deutsch, Victor Savile, Alexander Korda, Alfred Hitchcock).

Cinema in Britain between the Wars

An examination of the forces that worked both against and in favour of the process of unification and how they shaped the nation of Germany that emerged in 1871, following three wars.

The Unification of Germany 1815-1871

Mostly focusing on the Western Front, this talk explores the nature of the conflict as well as some of the principal events that killed so many people.

The First World War, 1914-1918

Not for the faint-hearted. Auschwitz was the most notorious centre of a web of POW, extermination and slave labour camps established by the Nazis during World War II.

Auschwitz and the Holocaust

Laced with some murky and violent Italian politics, not to mention a painter’s pet dog, this talk considers the vainglory of Pope Sixtus IV and of his family in the building and the decoration of the Sistine Chapel between 1480 and 1512.

The Sistine Chapel

Witchcraft, in reality, was little more than herbal medicine, but what made so many people for so long so scared of witches that they were hunted down and executed in large numbers in what has become known (wrongly) as the ‘witch craze’?

Witch Hunting in Tudor and Stuart England

This talk is a critical analysis of Suffragette tactics during their active years of 1903-1914, showing how good they were at gaining publicity for their cause, but less good at persuading people: arguably their actions made their chances of success even more unlikely.

English is Best! A light-hearted look at the English Language Beginning from the absurd proposition that English is the best language in the world, this talk explores the growth and the superb qualities of English and its many varieties.

English is Best!

This is a shorter talk, designed for delivery on or near Holocaust Memorial Day (27th January). It is aimed at provoking thought about how human beings have been so inhuman to each other on so many occasions.

Neville Chamberlain – A Reappraisal

79AD: The Death of Pompeii and Herculaneum

An Introduction to the Art of the Italian Renaissance

God Save the Queen? A look at the National Anthem

Operatic Choruses

Operatic Comedy

Invitation to the Dance

Operatic Love Songs

Operatic Interludes

Operatic Overtures

Operatic Showstoppers

Henry VIII's Divorce

Operatic Baddies

When is a Christmas Carol not a Christmas Carol?

Why was Mary Queen of Scots executed?

Tudor Antifeminism

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