06-28-2009, 06:15 PM
Further to my post above, today's (UK) 'Observer Review' has an article about 'the new history boys and girls' ("Too Cool for School"):
[url:1ith0hrm]http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/28/history-starkey-historians-writers[/url]
'Theory is a thing of the past for these hip young historians... What they're after is a cracking story' !
Apparently, "history is becoming cool [again] and the fightback is being spearheaded by a group of young, fashionable writers". All of them are between 27 and 31, and all studied at Oxbridge. The article continues: "this wave of young historians has sprouted up to fill the vacuum left by the departure of theory - or the "ism" - from mainstream academic life... I think [says one of them] if you produce a good narrative history, which convincingly creates the world you're writing about, then people will read it and draw their own conclusions."
"I had toyed with the idea of staying in academia [another says], but I was advised not to by the people at Cambridge. You see too many academics in Britain dragged down by constant paperwork and they never have the time to write much."
Hopefully 'constant paperwork' isn't actually a reference to, erm, historical research! :?
- N Ross
[url:1ith0hrm]http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/28/history-starkey-historians-writers[/url]
'Theory is a thing of the past for these hip young historians... What they're after is a cracking story' !
Apparently, "history is becoming cool [again] and the fightback is being spearheaded by a group of young, fashionable writers". All of them are between 27 and 31, and all studied at Oxbridge. The article continues: "this wave of young historians has sprouted up to fill the vacuum left by the departure of theory - or the "ism" - from mainstream academic life... I think [says one of them] if you produce a good narrative history, which convincingly creates the world you're writing about, then people will read it and draw their own conclusions."
"I had toyed with the idea of staying in academia [another says], but I was advised not to by the people at Cambridge. You see too many academics in Britain dragged down by constant paperwork and they never have the time to write much."
Hopefully 'constant paperwork' isn't actually a reference to, erm, historical research! :?
- N Ross
Nathan Ross
