History
Anything to do with History
Webster @Webster - about 3 years ago
Forging Ahead | History Today
Our ability to judge a medieval charter’s authenticity is comparatively new, dating from the advent, in the 19th century, of the study of the development of medieval script and of charters’ formulaic, legal language. Early medieval attempts at forgery, with their generall...continued
3 minutes read
Wilmer @Wilmer - over 2 years ago
Scotland Too | History Today
Scotland’s involvement with transatlantic slavery has become increasingly well known in recent years, but remains something of a controversial topic. Some Scots still prefer to characterise the history of their nation in terms of victimhood (of English imperialism), while...continued
3 minutes read
Allene @Allene - about 3 years ago
Things, Many and Varied | History Today
On the founding of the Society of Indexers in 1957, prime minister Harold Macmillan took time out of his busy day to write a letter of support, in which he shared some of his favourite anecdotes about indexes (in his defence, his grandfather was the founder of the Macmill...continued
3 minutes read
Jeffrey @Jeffrey - over 3 years ago
Ghetto Girls | History Today
Judy Batalion introduces her groundbreaking study of Polish resistance against the Nazis by describing her 12-year search for the Jewish women who played a vital role. What she uncovers, in excoriating and poignant detail, are the stories of the ‘ghetto girls’ who paid of...continued
3 minutes read
Pablo @Pablo - over 3 years ago
Turn on, Tune in, Fight Back
Southern Africa was among the last battlefields of the Cold War, a region where colonialism dug in its heels, eager to outlive its day. Whether it was the Zimbabwe African National Union’s armed struggle in Rhodesia, the Nelson Mandela-led ANC’s fight against Apartheid in...continued
3 minutes read
Jessika @Jessika - about 3 years ago
Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be
How did Elizabethan England produce someone like Shakespeare? Glyn Parry and Cathryn Enis look for answers in the politically charged and financially precarious world of Stratford-upon-Avon. Life here in the 1570s and 1580s shows how legal administration, family ties, cre...continued
3 minutes read
Wilmer @Wilmer - over 3 years ago
On the Spot: Natalie Zemon Davis
Why are you a historian of the early modern period?I like the interchange between new religious and social forms and traditional ones; and the expansion of contact between European and non-Europeans. What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? Never give up h...continued
3 minutes read
Allene @Allene - 9 months ago
On the Spot: Penelope J. Corfield
Why are you a historian of the 18th century?I began to study the ‘long’ 18th century for the challenge of researching a period that was comparatively understudied.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?Not to rush to judgement.Which history book has had t...continued
2 minutes read
Roger @Roger - almost 4 years ago
On the Spot: Sujit Sivasundaram
Why are you a global historian? Because I was born and educated in Sri Lanka, which was a magnet for a range of global forces and invaders. What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? The past has not gone. Which history book has had the greatest influence o...continued
3 minutes read
Alexzander @Alexzander - 9 months ago
On the Spot: Chris Clark
Why are you a historian of 19th-century Europe?I began as a passionate medievalist, so it was a long journey to the 19th century. Once I got there, it wouldn’t let me go.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?That there is always more than one perspective...continued
2 minutes read
Jerrold @Jerrold - almost 4 years ago
The Death of Seneca | History Today
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman philosopher, orator, politician and tutor to the Emperor Nero, stands in a bowl of warm water, preparing for death. Though retired from public life, the Spanish-born ‘Roman Socrates’ had been implicated in the Pisonian Conspiracy of AD 65 agai...continued
3 minutes read
Mariano @Mariano - over 3 years ago
On the Spot: Priya Satia
Why are you a historian of the British Empire?It shaped my family’s history and so much of the world, and I felt I could contribute – and correct influential myths – from the United States.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? That struggles matter in a...continued
2 minutes read
Bart @Bart - over 5 years ago
On the Spot: Emma Smith
Why are you a historian of Shakespeare?A history of Shakespeare is a cultural and political history of the last 400 years: it enables me to think about topics from cross-gender casting to political theory. What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?We can’t s...continued
2 minutes read
Cameron @Cameron - almost 4 years ago
On the Spot: Vincent Brown
Why are you a historian of slavery?I found my calling when I heard Bob Marley sing about black people: ‘We’re the survivors, like Daniel out of the lion’s den.’ What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? How it unfolds in discernible but unpredictable patter...continued
3 minutes read
Casper @Casper - over 3 years ago
The Dead Christ | History Today
‘One could lose one’s faith from that picture.’ Those were the words of Fyodor Dostoevsky to his wife Anna on seeing this painting of a ‘startlingly dead’ Christ in the Swiss city of Basel in 1867. She dragged the great Russian novelist away from the image, fearing the sh...continued
3 minutes read
Adelia @Adelia - over 2 years ago
On the Spot: Clare Jackson
Why are you a historian of 17th-century Britain?As an undergraduate, I became fascinated by the experiments in union and disunion attempted in these islands during the 17th century.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? Perspective.Which history book has...continued
2 minutes read
Alexzander @Alexzander - almost 4 years ago
Father Figure | History Today
Beyond the Nativity there is little in the Bible about Christ’s childhood. In St Luke’s Gospel there is an account of the 12-year-old’s visit to a temple for Passover, where he debated with ‘doctors’, and nothing at all in Mark and John. The visit to the temple also marks...continued
3 minutes read
Ericka @Ericka - about 3 years ago
On the Spot: Gordon Campbell
Why are you a historian of culture?It allows me to range freely through the history of art, literature, gardens, religion and, most recently, the Norse.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? That it is a means to understand the present. What book in your...continued
2 minutes read
Rahsaan @Rahsaan - almost 3 years ago
On the Spot: Nandini Das
Why are you a historian of early modern travel?I am intrigued by how we articulate what is familiar and what is strange, who belongs and who does not.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? That no historical record is an unmediated window into the past.W...continued
2 minutes read
Oren @Oren - about 3 years ago
On the Spot: Srinath Raghavan
Why are you a historian of modern South Asia?Because South Asia provides an extraordinary window on the making of the modern world.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? That history doesn’t teach any lessons – only historians do. Which history book has ...continued
2 minutes read
Jeffrey @Jeffrey - almost 4 years ago
On the Spot: Camilla Townsend
Why are you a historian of Native America?When I began to read the histories that the 16th-century Nahuas (or Aztecs) wrote, I felt I had been admitted to a great chamber of knowledge which had been buried for far too long. What’s the most important lesson history has tau...continued
3 minutes read
Juliet @Juliet - over 2 years ago
On the Spot: Sanjay Subrahmanyam
Why are you a historian of the early modern world?It’s distant, yet close enough; familiar, yet not overly so.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? To be sceptical of facile explanations based on prejudice or sanctimony.Which history book has had greate...continued
2 minutes read
Webster @Webster - almost 3 years ago
On the Spot: Margo Neale
Why are you a historian and curator of Indigenous Australian art?Indigenous history and art are interchangeable. Curating is a powerful form of history-telling.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? That the division between past, present and future is a...continued
2 minutes read
Raoul @Raoul - over 2 years ago
On the Spot: Paul Lay
Why are you a historian of early modern Britain?It’s the crucible in which modern Britain and subsequently much of the world was formed. It remains fascinating both on its own terms and for its contemporary resonances.What’s the most important lesson history has taught yo...continued
2 minutes read
Wilmer @Wilmer - over 2 years ago
On the Spot: David Hendy
Why are you a media historian?I studied medieval history, then worked in current affairs at the BBC. Media history brings my two careers together.What’s the most important lesson history has taught you? We can’t say what’s changed unless we know what went before.Which his...continued
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