What will we leave behind for historians?

Categories: CreativityTags: · · · · · · · 17 Comments

A couple of Monday’s ago, a post caught my attention on Twitter’s #MondayBlogs. The author, Samantha Tonge, found a bag of old love letters and spent an afternoon re-reading them and reconnecting with the emotions written on the pages. She wondered about today’s generation, reliant on their texts and email, which will never have the experience of re-reading old letters. Looking at my generation, we’re probably the last of the letter writers, and I’m shocked when I contemplate this. My sons’ generation have never known the anticipation of checking the mailbox for a reply to a personal correspondence, the anticipation made sweeter…

Puzzles in the Historical Record: The Highwayman Did It?

Categories: 17th centuryTags: · · · · · · 9 Comments

When sifting through historical records, it’s not uncommon to accept at face value the recorded events, particularly when the source is contemporary. But people remember events differently, either naturally or by design. We observe our world through a lens thickened by expectation and human experience. Even well-documented historical events have gaps. The escape of King Charles II is a good example of this. The details of his flight following the Battle of Worcester are contained in the collection of contemporary accounts known as the Boscobel Tracts. These were written during the Restoration, over a decade after the escape. But there is…