Prof. Robert Gildea, University of Oxford robert.gildea@history.ox.ac.uk ‘But there’s no such thing as transnational resistance!’ exclaimed one of our colleagues at the first meeting of the research team in Belgrade, ‘the Slovak national rising was a national rising!’ The point was well taken. After all, the team was drawn from many different nationalities: French, Dutch, … Continued
Prof. Carolyn Conley, The University of Alabama at Birmingham cconley@uab.edu This book means a great deal to me in part because it was finished after I retired from teaching and moved to a city away from my life at the university. While I miss my students and colleagues, it was liberating to write for … Continued
Dr Lena Liapi, Keele University e.liapi@keele.ac.uk @LenaLiapi While doing research for my book on rogue pamphlets (narratives of criminals in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), I came upon the case of James Turner. As a solicitor who had defrauded many of his clients, Turner was an unlikeable character. Even more egregiously, he betrayed a friend’s … Continued
Dr Xun Zhou, University of Essex xzhoug@essex.ac.uk Located at the foothills of the Great Wall in northern China, just south of Mongolia, is Shanxi province. Sun’s village is just outside of Datong city in northern Shanxi, an old coal mining town also famous for the ancient Yungang Buddhist Grottoes. Until the 1950s, there had been … Continued
Stephen Tate, Blackburn College University Centre stephen.tate@blackburn.ac.uk It’s an irony not lost on me that my book examining the history of the sports journalist was published in the same month that sport went into global lockdown. Athletes were sent home, fixtures suspended and stadiums emptied. Press boxes were under lock and key. To keep the … Continued
Loretta Dolan, University of Western Australia loretta.dolan@uwa.edu.au @loretta_dolan In 1599, a young girl of no more than twelve years of age called Maud Preece, told a Chester magistrate who was interviewing her about the theft of a hat, that she had been brought to the city four or five years previously. She could not remember … Continued
Ted Vallance, University of Roehampton Edward.Vallance@roehampton.ac.uk In a rather pungent outburst, the earl of Lauderdale once told Charles II that loyal addresses were ‘fit for nothing but to wipe his Royal A…’ Until recently, historical opinion on the value of these texts has been no less severe: J. T. Rutt, the editor of Thomas Burton’s … Continued
Professor David Vincent, Open University David.Vincent@open.ac.uk Prior to the outbreak of coronavirus there was widespread discussion by campaigners and social commentators of an ‘epidemic’ of loneliness. On the basis of an extensive literature review, Keith Snell concluded that ‘Loneliness is now widely diagnosed as a modern “epidemic” or “plague”.’ Even before the current crisis, this … Continued
Dr Gareth Winrow, University of Oxford gareth@garethwinrow.org I knew that my Turkish friend, Ahmet Ceylan, came from an interesting family. His great uncle, known in Turkey as Ahmet Robenson, had introduced basketball and Scouting to the Ottoman Empire and was one of the first goalkeepers to play for the Galatasaray football team. What I did … Continued
Dr Susan Anderson, Sheffield Hallam University @DrSusanAnderson In around 1490, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a figure in one of his notebooks that has become known as the Vitruvian Man. As Leonardo’s notes record in his characteristic mirror-writing, the sketch is drawn according to the ideal proportions of the human body, as described by the Roman … Continued
