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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
There remains a stereotypical image of Jack Tar as a man with loose morals who enjoyed himself ashore whenever he got the opportunity. Yet, how far this stereotype stands up has increasingly been questioned by historians.[1] This article does not intend to join in this debate per se but rather to reflect on the stereotype […]
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 […]
In May 1940, as Germany invaded France, fears arose in Guernsey that a German invasion might take place. The closeness of Guernsey to Cherbourg left it wide open to attack by both sea and air. On 11 June, the British War Cabinet considered that Hitler might occupy the Channel Islands to “strike a blow at […]
