There’s a reckoning at the end of every war. Counting the cost of American dead after World War One caused a few to reflect on a much more disturbing statistic: far more American women had died in childbirth than American… Read More ›
history on the web
Civil Service at War – the boys who didn’t come back
Government publications are more likely move you to sleep rather than to tears. But not Neil MacLennan’s excellent monograph which you can read here. It tells the stories of the 79 civil servants who appear on the First World War memorials… Read More ›
What Franco wanted us to see……
The small town of Belchite in Aragon was reduced to rubble in the course of one of the bloodiest battles of the Spanish Civil War. First taken by Republican troops on September 6 1937 it was won back by the… Read More ›
Bright spots for digital history
(This post appeared first on the allmediascotland site) Amid all the gloom that hangs over traditional news media, there’s one bright spot from an unlikely source. Digging up old stories and putting them on the web is flourishing. The fancier… Read More ›
Scotland goes tapestry bonkers
Ah, the joys of writing about history on the web … you post something one day and suddenly the world explodes. This is good because it means history is what it should be – challenging and fun. What’s prompted this… Read More ›
No doves in Dovecot and Bayeux not a tapestry – shock
A new exhibition in Edinburgh celebrates the centenary of the Dovecot tapestry weavers. The idea of hanging your history on the wall started well before 1066, but the Bayeux Tapestry not only made the news for England but still fashions… Read More ›
Barclays withdraws from Society of Friends
Call me an old sentimental type, but I’m really well disposed to Barclays. As a former customer and employee I view their current misfortunes with a degree of sympathy. OK that was a student job at the Aldridge branch in… Read More ›
CoI RIP, but Joe and Petunia live on
The Central Office of Information (CoI) passed away on March 31 – virtually unnoticed. It had a long and eventful life – nearly a century if you include its early years as the Ministry of Information. Thousands of talented journalists,… Read More ›
The Hebrides and Goebbels
This film from the new British Council archive is fascinating in many ways. It’s visually sumptuous – the first time I think the Hebrides, previously captured by sharp-eyed photographers like Werner Kissling in monochrome, was portrayed in glorious Technicolor. It weaves a simple dramatic… Read More ›
A treasure chest of oral histories
A key feature of digital history is its capacity to surprise. My good pal and cycling buddy, Iain Monk, who’s from Benbecula in the Western Isles, never knew his paternal grandfather, who died before Iain was born. But looking on… Read More ›
The History Company 