History Carnival No 4
It is up now at Blogenspiel, written by “Another Damned Medievalist”. (She doesn’t explain that term, but it sounds like it has a history of its own.)
The framework is histographical, looking at what history is and should be — including a student who finds that her Women’s History course is almost too relevant — but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t also point you to some great stories. These include ritual transvestism and an unmissable account of a 17th-century nun, a pillar of learning and knowledge. Don’t miss it! (This humble booklover makes a small contribution.)
A nice cup of tea
A central part of English* life, particularly for women, through much of the 20th century seems to have been the J.Lyons & Co teashop – the Starbucks of their time. There’s a lovely little online history here. There are lots of pictures, price lists and lots of other potentially useful info.
*There’s no mention of Wales or Scotland so not sure if they got that far.
It makes me think of the spectacular looking Hat and Feathers Restaurant on Old Street in London, which I often cycle past, which is sadly boarded up and apparently derelict.
French-American distrust
There’s nothing new, it seems, about the French and the Americans getting stuck into each other, according to this review of, among others, the translation of the French professor Philippe Roger’s The American Enemy: The History of French Anti-Americanism. An extract from the review:
Before the founding of the United States, for example, one reaction to the Romantic idealization of the New World came in a series of scientific studies of the continent’s plant and animal life. In 1768, the naturalist Cornelius De Pauw called America a “vast and sterile desert” whose climate nurtured “astonishingly idiotic” men. The natural historian Buffon claimed that its animals were stunted miniatures of their Old World counterparts. These assertions were so widely believed in France that Thomas Jefferson devoted considerable energy to their refutation.
The London Library
I was raving earlier about how wonderful the London Library is, but for the full story, check out this article by the president for some great anecdotes, including the one about the founder, Thomas Carlyle, collecting up volumes on the French Revolution for Dickens when he was writing A Tale of Two Cities. (From the Telegraph, free registration required)
A world fallen apart
Anyone who whines about asylum-seekers should be directed to this blog post, an Afghan woman’s account of her decision to flee her country.
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