Author Archives: readinghistory

A Very Ghostly Christmas: St Nicholas, the Slaughtered Students and the Murdered Merchant, by Professor Anne Lawrence-Mathers

Posted on December 6, 2021 by readinghistory

On the feast day of St Nicholas of Myra, we find out if the ‘Wondeworker’ Saint is a modern day Santa Claus or an early version of Sweeny Todd in these stories of ghostly apparitions, murder, and magic. Will there … Continue reading →

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How to Find an Early Modern Witch, by Claire Smith

Posted on October 31, 2021 by readinghistory

If you wanted to find a witch during the early modern period, one of the more notable people you could ask was Matthew Hopkins, self-declared Witchfinder General from 1644-1647. If, in the twenty-first century, you want to find evidence of … Continue reading →

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Sugar and Slavery: Reproductive Mills, by Jude Reeves

Posted on October 26, 2021 by readinghistory

I have been given the opportunity to share my experience working as an intern at the Mills Archive Trust on Watlington Street, a registered charity dedicated to the protection and preservation of records of milling history, in the summer of … Continue reading →

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Abdulrazak Gurnah, the 2021 Nobel Literature Prize, and a Challenge to White Fragility, by Dr Heike I. Schmidt

Posted on October 12, 2021 by readinghistory

NPR, the US American public radio station, was broadcasting some critical reporting on the day of the announcement of the 2021 Nobel Literature Prize, 7 October. The journalists were discussing that, while the Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o had been … Continue reading →

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Celebrating Black History Month: Citizenship, Belonging and the Political Imagination of Women in Rhodesia, by Shepherd Mutswiri

Posted on October 12, 2021 by readinghistory

Re-posted from our Gender History Research Cluster I was struck by the imposing Irish symbols and their historical meaning. The Irish Defence Forces marched on stage holding the Irish flag which had been chosen as the national flag during the … Continue reading →

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