Jack Hargreaves died 20 years ago. The name is so plain English. It is the sort of name you see rolling up the credits of a black and white movie from the forties. Jack Hargreaves is the source material of history though. More about that later, but first a bit about a life well lived.… Continue reading Jack Hargreaves; new viewers start here
Tag: historical research
You Talkin’ to Me…?
The message that the past really is another country for which you have got nothing but a visitor’s visa is rammed home when you read this. (Click on the image). Crimes of passion have been happening since the Neanderthals. Domestic disputes boil over on a hot night when someone takes a knife from the… Continue reading You Talkin’ to Me…?
Some have greatness thrust upon them
To become a fixture in history is a luck lottery. Some have it; most don’t. Fame comes in many guises. Captain Scott and General Custer were famous for just one episode – dying. Heroically? Probably not in either case, as it happens. The mood of the times buoyed up their exploits and carried them forward.… Continue reading Some have greatness thrust upon them
From a Distance
It is easy to forget the state of research in the 19th century — a world that would be so unfamiliar to us now. Information was local and only held in someone’s memory, or on paper. Much information was so local it tended to stay local. A story might appear in a local paper, but… Continue reading From a Distance
Amor vincit omnia
In my formative years I first encountered the phrase amor vincit omnia – love conquers all. I found the expression in Chaucer. (I tried to apply the incantation, though I could not make it work for me. These truths we hold to be self-evident that amor non vincit Judith Gibbons – unless foreplay counted). As… Continue reading Amor vincit omnia
Oranges and Lemons
Interesting piece in the NYT about the potential for analysis of digitised historic records. The particular research looks at the changing attitudes to violent crime as compared with property crime using keywords, though I am not wedded to believing in the reporter’s example of ‘kick’ as a strong trigger word — read the piece. The… Continue reading Oranges and Lemons