John Kirk

Crisis at Central High

John A. Kirk recalls the dramatic events at Little Rock, Arkansas, fifty years ago this month, when a stand-off over the granting of black students access to integrated education brought the civil rights agenda to international attention.

Published May 14 2010

The Long Road to Equality for African-Americans

Despite the rise of Barack Obama, many African-Americans still feel like second-class citizens. John Kirk charts the progress of the civil rights movement through its most prominent body, the NAACP, which celebrated its centenary in February 2009.

Published January 13 2009

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Lords of the Northern Forest

The Hudson's Bay Company was one of the central forces moulding the development of the vast tracts of land that today are Canada - but as Barry Gough explains here, the circumstances of its launch in 1670 also reveal much about the commercial forces, personalities and rivalries of Restoration England.