Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
History is the study of past societies through surviving text and images. I just got back home to Sweden, whose narrative history starts in the 9nd century AD and is even then really patchy for centuries. I have spent the past two weeks in China, where recorded history starts some time in the mid-2nd millennium BC. And what did I find in my long-neglected in-box when I got home? The makings of the 58th History Carnival!
A blog carnival, for those of you who don't already know, is an ambulatory and periodical collection of good blog writing relevant to a certain theme. Here today, somewhere else in a month. I got loads and loads of submissions for this edition, and so I have been selective: submissions that I found non-good and/or non-relevant were dropped as a service to the reader.
To the carnival! Before we dive into the past, just let me plug Cliopatria's History Blogging awards. Mustn't forget them, my preciousss.
Medieval
- Archaeozoo presents a piece on the archaeological evidence for hawking in Medieval England.
Early to Mid-Modern
- Maggie at History of American Women gives us a look at women's rights in the Plymouth Colony.
- Tim at Walking the Berkshires offers a detailed discussion of 17th century witch hunts in New England.
- Jason at Executed Today introduces us to Peter Stubbe, a psycho killer and wannabe werewolf in 16th century Germany.
- Jim at Making Light speaks of the worst defeat under arms ever suffered by the US Army in Retreat Along the Wabash.
19th Century
- Digital Medievalist offers an in-depth discussion of a murder committed in Ireland in 1895 when a man killed his wife because he was convinced that she was a fairy changeling.
- Daisy at Dead Air tells us about anti-slavery crusaderJohn Brown.
- Dave at Progressive Historians tells the tale of the Great Stink in London, 1858.
- My London Your London points us to a UK project to put Victorian photographs on-line that is looking for volunteer staff.
20th century
- Romeo at Providentia describes the stigma attached to Japanese nuke survivors.
- The Old Foodie tells the story of the microwave oven and its historical context. Without airborne warfare, no radar, and without radar, no nuke ovens.
- Greg Laden celebrates Sputnik as "the greatest thing ever to happen to America".
- Jacqueline at Another Old Movie Blog muses about Word War II movies.
- Natalie at Philobiblon tells us about Women pilots in WWII ...
- ... and the history of UK council housing estates.
- Felix at Bay Radical offers an interview with Lesbian activist trailblazer Cathy Cade.
- Orac at Respectful Insolence explores changing medical attitudes to tobacco smoking over the past decades: "What cigarette do you smoke, Doctor?".
- Frumteacher tells us about Nikita Khrushchev and the famous shoe incident.
- The Purloined Letter gives a glimpse of some absurdly violent entertainment in the US.
- Diamond Geezer introduces us to William Willett, the father of Daylight Savings Time.
Metahistory
- Dan at the Digital Humanities Blog reports from a conference about using new technologies to explore cultural heritage.
- Mark at Blog Them Out of the Stone Age asks, is strategy an illusion in military history?
- Jimmy at the Online Education Database presents a commented list of 250+ killer digital libraries and archives. Major time-sink warning!
- Sage at Ragesoss 2.02 reports on two good talks he heard on the theme "What are historians good for?".
- David at presents the Long Eighteenth discusses the historical value of autobiographies.
That's all, folks! The next History Carnival will appear on 1 December at Westminster Wisdom. Submit here.
Comments
Thank you for this! Two tiny corrections, though: I'm not the author of the linked post at Purloined Letter--I just submitted the link for inclusion. And the image there of absurdly violent entertainment is from Coney Island, not the US South.
Posted by: Penny | November 6, 2007 11:47 AM
Thanks for including my post in this great carnival! The chronological arrangement of the posts works really well!
Posted by: Frumteacher | November 6, 2007 2:18 PM
Woah! Thanks for including me, and thanks for hosting the carnival. I'm pretty flattered to share this platform with such a bunch of great writers.
Posted by: Felix | November 6, 2007 2:42 PM
Lovely run-throught, thanks - for the mentions!
Posted by: Natalie Bennett | November 7, 2007 4:35 PM
Thanks so much! There's some marvelous reading here ... it's an honor to be on the list. In a local-interest vein, if that's the term for such a peripatetic joint, today happens to be the anniversary of the Stockholm Bloodbath.
Posted by: Jason | November 8, 2007 12:38 AM
Scary stuff! The alleyways sloping from the town square flowed crimson...
Posted by: Martin R | November 8, 2007 4:06 AM