Author: Doing History in Public

  • Knitting the Archives

    Knitting the Archives

    If you walk into any charity shop, you are more than likely to find, somewhere, a box or folder full of old knitting patterns. The majority of people would overlook these – to those that cannot knit, the sheets look like indecipherable code, but even to those that can, the patterns are considered dated. But…

  • Argentina 1910: Latin America’s Guardian

    Argentina 1910: Latin America’s Guardian

    By Jordan Buchanan Argentina was once the front-runner in the defence of Latin America from incipient U.S. imperialism. The South American republic celebrated the centenary of its declaration of independence in 1910, firmly established as the leading economy in the region.[1] In the prelude to Argentina’s anniversary, The Economist acclaimed that ‘it is probable that…

  • Art in the Time of Coronavirus

    Art in the Time of Coronavirus

    By Zara Kesterton (@ZaraKesterton) 15 March 2020: we were beginning to realise just how much of an impact the coronavirus pandemic would have on all our lives. One of my friends messaged a group chat, ‘Now that we aren’t allowed to touch anything ever again does it spell the end of material culture? Is the…

  • Questioning Modern Slavery Legislation through the Trade of SS Allach Porcelain

    By Tristan Bromley @TefaBrom Porcelain is not something usually associated with Nazism. Yet from 1936–45, the Nazi SS, were fostering this precise link through the Allach Porcelain Manufactory, an SS company.[I] Amongst its produce were animal figurines, vases, candleholders, as well as models of SS men and other ‘Aryan’ figurines. Each piece bore the company’s mark…

  • Book Review – Coffeeland: A History by Augustine Sedgewick

    Book Review – Coffeeland: A History by Augustine Sedgewick

    Jordan Buchanan reviews Augustine Sedgewick’s Coffeeland: A History (Allen Lane, 2020), £25.00. In Coffeeland, Augustine Sedgewick achieves the often-elusive goal of creating an academic history that is enjoyable for the non-professional history enthusiast. Coffee is a product so closely attached to complex historical themes that this history could easily have become an esoteric one. By taking the…