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The Friday Digest 25/04/14

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THP Friday digest 
 
This week's update features cultural icons, the oldest message in a bottle and previously unknown works from Warhol.


Saint George Killing the Dragon, 1434/35, by Bernat Martorell

 

* History Today slays the myth of St George and the Dragon.  Despite popular belief, St George only gained popularity in England in the fifteenth century and Richard the Lionheart had nothing to do with it.

 

'It doesn’t matter what they read' … Male and female soldiers queue to have books signed by author Andy McNab at Tidworth Army Camp, Wiltshire. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian 

* A decline in male readers has caused alarm amongst authors and publishers but Publishing Perspectives ask what if boys just can't find the right stuff to read?  

 

German fisher Konrad Fischer holds a message in a bottle from 1913 on the fishing cutter "Maria I" in Kiel, Germany. AFP/DPA/UWE PAESLER/CORBIS 

 

* The oldest message in a bottle has been presented to the granddaughter of the sender, 101 years later. The bottle was discovered in the Baltic off the city of Kiel last month.


Gloucester Mike preparing a plank (left) and Brian setting a plank clamp (right).


Mike Selwood, Assistant Boat Manager at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall talks about the challenges of building a Viking boat today


Homework helpers 

 

* Doing research for a school project? Try our bitesized homework helpers


In this March 3, 2000 file photo, Cuba's Fidel Castro, left, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez speak during a dinner in Havana, Cuba.


* Nobel prize-winning Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has diedHe was cremated in a private family ceremony in Mexico City, where he lived for more than thirty years.


Amazon logo


* According to a new BBC television programme, more than half of Britain’s online retail spend goes to Amazon.

 

Historical fiction books

 

Balancing fact and fiction – Helen Carey’s top tips for historical novelists.


Piccadilly Circus, 1949. Shared by Retronaut. Photograph: Chalmers Butterfield


'Retronauting': why we can't stop sharing old photographs


This funny portrait of a woman was taken while she was mid-sneeze. (1900)


* Whilst there are plenty of places sharing old photos, The Guardian's 'pictures from the past' has images 'from definitive moments in history to milestones in photography' - well worth a look! 

 

Andy Warhol Amiga art (c) Andy Warhol Museum

 

* A dozen previously unknown works from Andy Warhol have been recovered from old Amiga disks. The images were made by Warhol to aid the launch of the Amiga 1000 in 1985. 

 

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

Which book would you give to someone you love?

 

* Do you agree that academic citation practices for PhDs and academic books need to be modernised? Join the debate here ...  

 

Bernburg. Image from http://blsfacinghistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/day-3-bernburg.html

 

* History students share their experiences of visiting Holocaust memorial sites in Eastern Europe

 

 Word cloud of cultural icons

 

* William Shakespeare is the UK's greatest cultural icon, according to the results of an international survey released to mark the 450th anniversary of his birth.  The Queen and David Beckham come in at second and third respectively. Who would you add to the list? 


Cornish flag


* Cornish people have been granted minority status within the UK this week in a move which has divided public opinion. The Cornish will gain the same status as other Celtic communities such as the Scots, Welsh and Irish.
 

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


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