A Question of Interpretation
The public expects historians to deliver authoritative accounts of the past, yet different conclusions can be drawn from the same sources.
The public expects historians to deliver authoritative accounts of the past, yet different conclusions can be drawn from the same sources.
There should be no contradiction in constructing a history curriculum that incorporates both Britain’s ‘national memory’ and its many diversities, argues Suzannah Lipscomb.
Historians try to produce as total a view of the past as possible. Yet does our concern with facts isolate us from how material culture influenced lived experience, asks Suzannah Lipscomb?
High-minded allegations of prurience should not stop historians from examining the intimate lives of people in the past.
While it rightly condemns ISIS’ brutal destruction of the Middle East’s rich architectural heritage, is the West neglecting its own, more subtle cultural vandalism?
The increasing commercialisation of sites known for their gruesome and violent history raises troubling questions. But to ignore such events would be worse, argues Suzannah Lipscomb.
Suzannah Lipscomb looks beyond the stereotypes that surround our most infamous monarch to ask: who was Henry VIII and when did it all go wrong?
A revolution in communications and new technology means that we now live in an age of speeded-up history. Historians should wake up to this shift, argues Suzannah Lipscomb.
Historians should adhere to a rigorous code of professional practice if they are to avoid the kinds of careless mistakes that bring their professional integrity into question, says Suzannah Lipscomb.
Are historians inevitably faced with a choice between academic analysis or popular narrative, or should they aim to master both skills, asks Suzannah Lipscomb.