Monthly Archives: June 2010

The Bitchiness of Historians (The Case of Herodotus)

Posted on June 30, 2010 by kenbaker

Historians have always been bitchy towards one another. It just seems to go with the territory. They are touchy, quick to take offence, or apt to chuck cold water, wet blankets and trenchant abuse on one another in ample doses. … Continue reading →

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From Gibbon to Goebbels? The Historians’ Trajectory

Posted on June 26, 2010 by kenbaker

Gibbon and Goebbels are not the obvious choices for comparison to Herodotus and Thucydides, but bear with me. H & T are frequently regarded as the “first historians.” They wrote the book, you might say, on how to do history. … Continue reading →

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Is “Saxon town” a misnomer?

Posted on June 22, 2010 by kenbaker

Today, we distinguish the ideas of “urban” and “rural” quite readily. In fact, we are heirs to a whole raft of concepts and snobbery about “townies” and “bumpkins” that have existed for centuries. The Romans made the same distinction. But … Continue reading →

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Civil War Soldiers: Letter home

Posted on June 16, 2010 by kenbaker

“Chattanooga July 27th, 1864 My dear wife, You will perceive from the heading of this that I am at Chattanooga. I obtained the position I have been seeking so long and am now with the Judge Advocate on Gen. Thomas’ … Continue reading →

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Teaching History

Posted on June 15, 2010 by kenbaker

Great post from James Daley about the way we teach History at school in the UK. The amount of people who’ve said to me “This is so interesting, but I had a really boring teacher at school. Put me off … Continue reading →

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Lenin as Social Architect

Posted on June 8, 2010 by kenbaker

It is perhaps significant that Lenin’s biggest contribution to modern Russian life is a monument to death. It was, after all, his characteristic answer to most problems. Lenin’s period of control over Russia (1917-1924) was dominated by war, conflict and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1917, A Level History, Communism, History, Lenin, Russian revolution, Stalin, USSR | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Assessing the Character of Nicholas II

Posted on June 8, 2010 by kenbaker

“The daily work of a monarch he found intolerably boring. He could not stand listening long or seriously to ministers’ reports, or reading them.” Written by Kerensky, the leader of the government which took over from the Tsar in 1917, … Continue reading →

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Stalin’s Five Year Plans: Conversation with Szpakowski

Posted on June 2, 2010 by kenbaker

Professor Michal Spakowski (Jastrӗbie Droj, Poland) was speaking to Rev Dr Kenneth Baker (Roscommon, Republic of Ireland)

Posted in 1917, A Level History, Communism, Economic History, History, Russian revolution, Stalin, USSR | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

WHAT IF? The Corsican Crisis 1768

Posted on June 1, 2010 by kenbaker

One of the more fascinating “what ifs” of European history has to be the handling of the Corsican Crisis of 1768-69.

Posted in A Level History, British Empire, Empire and Expansion, History, Rise of Empire 1660-1760 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Historians are seedy and horrible, says Terry Deary

Posted on June 1, 2010 by kenbaker

Article by Sarah Ebner He owes his success to history, but the author Terry Deary has described historians as “seedy and devious”. From The Times May 31, 2010

Posted in College, Historians, Historical Interpretation, History, History in the news, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments