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Wanted: A More Complicated History of Belgium’s Congolese ‘Heart of Darkness’
by Eva Schalbroeck Whenever I say that I study the history of Belgian imperialism in the Congo, most people confess to not knowing that Belgium had a colony. Others describe it as a particularly nasty and violent episode’. My explanations of ‘it’s far less black-and-white’ or ‘it’s complicated’ often confuse more than they illuminate. Popular media…
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‘Our story remains unwritten’: the ethics of writing histories across cultures
by Tom Smith What does it mean to write a history of a culture other than our own, and how do we do this sensitively? This is an issue upon which historians rarely reflect explicitly. My dual passions for American history and Pacific Ocean history have been fuelled not by any particular personal investment or…
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From nose in a book to nose in the kitchen – musings on the place of historians in recipe recreation
by Elly Barnett – @eleanorrbarnett When I explain that I am researching the links between food and the European Reformations, I am usually met with premature praise for my (in reality non-existent) cooking skills. The obvious location in which to research food, they assume, is the kitchen. The cooking of historical recipes, moreover, has gained much public…
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‘Where are the Dinosaurs?’: Reflections on Public History at the Museum of Jurassic Technology
by Tom Smith – @TomEtesonSmith What connects the obscure lives of neurophysiologist Geoffrey Sonnabend and opera singer Madelena Delani? Are these people even real? Is there really an elaborate miniature engraving of the Crucifixion on that seemingly ordinary fruit stone? Are we supposed to take these heroic portraits of the dogs of the Soviet space programme…
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Marian Mason: England’s Trailblazing Woman of Fitness
By Conor Heffernan Although sporting historians have long noted the importance of English women in the development of sport in general, few studies have devoted themselves to the study of gymnastic exercise systems such as callisthenics. This has done a great injustice to Marian Mason, England’s first female physical fitness instructor who, beginning in the…
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