thehistorywoman

Passing on a regicide’s key

The story begins in 1980 with a chance find on John Dixwell in the British Museum, then resumes in New England several decades later with an old key handed over to the author in a plastic bag. Sarah Dixwell Brown had resolved to ask her father about the ancestor whose name always seemed to produce… Continue reading Passing on a regicide’s key

Too many book reviews?

I sometimes wonder if I write too many book reviews, especially academic ones. I write about two a year, so that does not seem a lot. But they are a lot of work. After all, you have to read several hundred pages of often dense academic prose to produce a review of about 1,000 words.… Continue reading Too many book reviews?

Algernon Sidney in Context

I’m very pleased to see the swift progress of a collection on Algernon Sidney’s work in context I’m contributing to due to appear with Classiques Garnier later this year. It is edited by my colleagues Tom Ashby and Christopher Hamel and based on several workshops on Sidney they had organised with Gilles Olivo at the… Continue reading Algernon Sidney in Context

Whose Voice?

The text known as The Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow was long considered an authentic account of the English Revolution – until Blair Worden discovered Ludlow’s manuscript and recovered the regicide’s real voice. At a workshop in Newcastle we discussed the feasibility of a complete edition of this manuscript.

At home with the dolls

I’ve always loved doll’s houses. As a little girl I created my own from cardboard and had a lot of fun furnishing them. I remember making a little TV set complete with a programme of cartoons and commercials and even a grand piano with black and white keys, although I doubt they were all in… Continue reading At home with the dolls

WS: Edmund Ludlow – The Memoirs of a Regicide in Exile

We are planning a small workshop on Edmund Ludlow’s Memoirs and his MS ‘A Voyce from the Watch Tower’ to gather ideas for a new edition of the text. You can join us at Newcastle University on 2 July – in person or via Zoom. Just get in touch.

The death of the Special Collections reading room

On a recent researcht trip to Germany I wanted to look at some German editions and translations of English republican works from the seventeenth and eighteenth century at a university library. And for the first time in my career as an early modern historian, the Special Collections librarian asked me if it was really necessary… Continue reading The death of the Special Collections reading room

The Covid-19 backlog in academia

There is not just a massive Covid-19 backlog in NHS care in the UK, there is also a backlog in academic publications in this country, albeit one which is fortunately much less noticeable to the outside world. And hopefully nobody is going to die because of it. Of course I can only talk about my… Continue reading The Covid-19 backlog in academia

Mrs Dalloway as a Provincial Lady

The Diary of a Provincial Lady has become my unexpected favourite book of the year. Its unassuming and self-deprecating title very much sets the tone for the four parts of E.M. Delafield’s semi-autobiographical novel, as the main character from a small village in Devon embarks on a successful literary career that takes her first to… Continue reading Mrs Dalloway as a Provincial Lady

Studying while poor: Student life is not all it is cracked up to be

Reading recent reports on student loans not covering the actual cost of living really hit home with me as it brought back memories of my own student days. With Christmas approaching, I distinctly remember the time I was not able to attend the xmas party in my student halls because my flatmates had asked for… Continue reading Studying while poor: Student life is not all it is cracked up to be