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North American Conference on British Studies

In his blog for North American Conference on British Studies, Port Towns & Urban Culture’s Simon Smith, explores the experiences of British Sailors during the First World War. “As we mark the centenary of the Great War this August it reveals just how much this episode of our history continues to interest and influence our […]

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The Coastal History Blog 22: “The Trained Researcher’s Eye… and What It Misses”

Many historians, young and old, nurse the lingering hope that their next round of research will uncover that career-making revelation, their personal equivalent of Carlo Ginzburg’s benandanti or Robert Darnton’s Great Cat Massacre. But if it turned up right in front of you, would you notice it?  Don’t be so sure. Consider the sad case […]

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The Coastal History Blog 21: “The ‘Cosmopolitan Port Town’—Is There Any Other Kind?”

Michael Pearson, in his book The Indian Ocean, emphasizes that littoral societies have markedly different attitudes from their more parochial neighbors inland.  He quotes Ross Dunn on the “cosmopolitan frame of mind” of Muslims in East Africa, southern India, and Malaysia and adds: “This was reinforced by the coastal location and the fact that most […]

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Picture postcard depicting two Boys' Brigade band members. Date unknown. Image reproduced with kind permission of David Kemp.

Port Town Pipers of the Glasgow Boys’ Brigade

Last month’s BBC Scotland documentary – Pipers of the Trenches – highlighted the cultural significance of pipe music during the battles of the First World War in the solidification of Scottish traditions, identity, and heritage within the military. The programme visited descendents of men who carried their pipes in the trenches and explored their stories […]

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