Quantcast
Channel: The History Press blog
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 750

The Friday Digest 26/07/13

$
0
0

THP Friday digest


The Friday Digest brings you the best of the week's history news gathered from the experts:

 

Photo: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have emerged from hospital with their newborn son.Here is the first image of the family: http://bbc.in/11c6nSr #RoyalBaby


* You would have had to be living under a rock this week if you haven't heard that the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy on Monday this week. The couple have decided to name him George Alexander Louis and many guessed his first name, named for his great great grandfather George VI, but what's the significance of Alexander and Louis? It's difficult to know what the future holds for the Cambridge prince (even with TIME's handy guide) but one thing is certain, he isn't an average baby


The White Queen. Image from http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/posts/The-White-Queen-Philippa-Gregory-on-resurrecting-history


* The White Queen is nearing its conclusion over on BBC 1 and the BBC has a really interesting interview with Phillipa Gregory about translating history into novels and television and how to move the narrative from the page to onscreen. If you are interested in history, fiction or both, this is well worth a read!


Office window


* Many people may feel like they are constantly chained to their desk but this is not a modern phenomenon. Lucy Kellaway investigates the invention of the office and also examines how the typewriter played a crucial role in introducing women into the workplace
 

Jane Austen £10 note. Image from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151496461637217&set=a.10150618575207217.382392.228735667216&type=1

 

* Literary lovers are rejoicing this week as Jane Austen has been confirmed as the new face of the Bank of England £10 note, replacing Charles Darwin in either 2016 or 2017. Reactions have been mixed but as massive fans of Jane Austen, we couldn't be more pleased!

* Looking for literary love in London? Book review website the Omnivore has created a dating feature that matches participants based on answers to questions like 'What are you currently reading?' and 'Which author do you have a crush on?' Who knows, you may be able to find your very own Mr Darcy...

 

Book shelf. Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/39136843@N05/3709418364/

 

 * Why do writers drink? Creativity and alcohol are often linked together but surely the words on the page are there despite and not because of alcohol?

* Why the 'To Kill a Mockingbird' film is just as good as the novel. Like many others, I had to read this book at school and I really enjoyed it and the film is one of my favourites. Gregory Peck is a fantastic Atticus and the movie is gripping, whether or not you have read the book. Why not read the book or watch the film this weekend? 

* Are bookless libraries a good thing? 

* Top tips for authors: the ten rules of submitting to literary magazines

* The 'Not the Booker prize' is back, and you're a judge...

* Just what are grown-ups afraid of in YA books

* The reasons why Amazon should play nice with local bookstores.

* Could the smell of chocolate help save bookshops on the highstreet? It would definitely help to lure me into a store...

 

Medieval Mansion Found at U.K. Construction Site. Image from http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/medieval-mansion-found-at-uk-construction-site-130725.htm

 

* A medieval mansion has been found at a UK construction site, with no record of it ever existing, at the site in Longforth Farm in Wellington, Somerset 

 

Brick-fronted building decorated for an Asian wedding. Image from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23407265

 

* How many hours does it take to be fluent in English


The ocean-going canoes. Image from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23359495



* Polynesian navigators have revived a skill that was nearly lost. The revival of ancient skills continues to gather momentum and is of growing importance for the indigenous people of the Pacific. 


Layout of Fort San Juan excavation site. (Credit: University of Michigan)


Archaeologists discover the remains of a garrison that predates the earliest English settlements in the US by decades. Established in 1567, Fort San Juan was just one of at least six military installations built by the Spanish across the Appalachian mountain range, stretching from the coast of South Carolina to eastern Tennessee - and is the only one scientists have located so far.


A British merchant ship sunk by the Nazis has given up a haul of 61 tons of silver, worth about $36 million. Image from http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/36-mln-of-silver-recovered-from-wwii-shipwreck-130723.htm

 

 * $36 million in silver has been recovered from a World War Two shipwreck found about 300 miles off the coast of Ireland, laying deeper than the Titanic at a depth of nearly 3 miles.


Bourbon-news. Image from http://mashable.com/2013/07/24/scintillations-facebook-1883/


* Social media is a fairly modern invention, but the nineteenth-century, semi-weekly Bourbon News newspaper from Millersburg, Kentucky with a column called 'Scintillations' has been described as the Facebook of 1883. 


Which history and publishing stories have you enjoyed reading this week?


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 750

Trending Articles