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Type of site | Online encyclopaedia |
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| Available in | English |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | UK |
| Founder(s) |
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| Launched | September 1997; 27 years ago (1997-09) |
| Written in | Node.js |
Spartacus Educational is a freeonline encyclopedia with essays and other educational material on a wide variety of historical subjects, principally the struggle for equality and democracy as part ofBritish history from 1700 and thehistory of the United States.
Based in the United Kingdom, Spartacus Educational was established as a book publisher in 1984 by former history teacher John Simkin and Judith Harris.[1] It became an online publisher in September 1997.[2] It grew into a large database of primary and secondary sources on a wide variety of subjects, includingWorld War I,World War II, theRussian Revolution,abolitionism,Chartism,women's suffrage (biographies of 230 women),Nazi Germany, theSpanish Civil War, and theCold War. Wherever possible, Simkin said that the history is told via the words of the people involved in the struggle for equality and democracy. For World War II, Simkin describes the focus of this encyclopedia as "providing background information on major political leaders from each of the countries involved in the war ... including individuals from a miscellaneous category such as:Chaing Kai-Shek andJosip Tito. ... The site has the ability to provide more of a well-rounded learning experience by illustrating how the war affected people and places all over the world."[3] TheNew York Public Library recommended the articles about thehistory of Germany andhistory of Russia as educational resources.[4]
According to Marilyn Elias of theSouthern Poverty Law Center, speaking about theassassination of John F. Kennedy, "the site simply reproduces a host ofconspiracy theories that first appeared elsewhere".[5] Elias also describes the site as "very shoddy, not well-sourced", citing Arthur Goldwag, author ofCults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies.[5] The site attracted controversy with its American entries and its recognition of British media in the 1930s supporting Oswald Moseley and Adolf Hitler.[6]
Of Spartacus Educational, Monica Burns, an EdTech consultant forEdutopia, a free online resource in history for teaching students how to comprehend informational text, wrote in 2013 that it is "a great resource for global history. It contains free encyclopedia entries that directly connect to primary source documents, making it a perfect tool for educators looking to give students a starting point in their research."[7]
In 2022, the new edition ofLearning to Teach History in the Secondary School: a Companion to School Experience referred to Spartacus Educational as invaluable thesaurus of historical knowledge, including suggested classroom activities.
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