Author: Doing History in Public

  • Beach reading for historians (or why simple writing makes your argument smarter)

    Beach reading for historians (or why simple writing makes your argument smarter)

    by Marta Musso Summer reading is always tricky for young academics. On the one hand, the summer holidays are the perfect and unique time of the year to relax and read all the pleasant, light novels that you never have time for. On the other hand, summer is also the time to catch up with…

  • Narratives and identity of defeat: Japanese former military elite officers after 1945

    Narratives and identity of defeat: Japanese former military elite officers after 1945

    by Aiko Otsuka Aiko Otsuka is a Ph.D student in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge University. Recently in Japan, more war veterans have now started to tell stories about their atrocities from World War 2. Some Japanese war veterans have given lectures about the terrible crimes committed in Asia during…

  • British Identity in Fascist Italy

    British Identity in Fascist Italy

    by Konstantin Wertelecki Konstantin Wertelecki is an MPhil student in Modern European History at the University of Cambridge. In June 1940, British citizens Mr. and Mrs. Waterfield drove to the Florence railway station, just in time to catch the last train to France before Italy declared war on Britain. Bizarrely, this was their second escape…

  • Dimwit! Charles the Simple and His Nickname

    Dimwit! Charles the Simple and His Nickname

    By Fraser McNair The Frankish king Charles the Simple (r. 898-923) does not have a posthumous reputation as the brightest king who ever reigned. The most famous episode with which he is associated is one in which he was flipped onto his backside by an insubordinate Viking, who was told to kiss Charles’ feet and…

  • Blog Re-launch 2nd December, 12.45 room 6, Cambridge University History Faculty

    Dear all, We are looking for graduate students who are passionate about making history more accessible and using social media and blogging to discuss a range of history-relevant topics. The Doing History in Public blog, https://doinghistoryinpublic.org/, will be re-launching at the Digital History graduate seminar on Tuesday 2nd December, 12.45-2.30pm in Seminar Room 6 in…