The Friday Digest brings you the best of the week's history news gathered from the experts:
* This week, on 8th April, Baroness Margaret Thatcher died as a result of a stroke. As one of politics most controversial figures, indifference was never an option and discussion about her rise to power and the impact of her legacy has been dominating the headlines this week. One thing is certain though, she was a woman who massively influenced both the social and cultural life of Great Britain and the world. Russell Brand's article on Thatcher is a really interesting read too, especially for those 'children of Thatcher'.
* With history, one thing we often forget is the effect that key historical events have on communities. It is much easier to look at a country as a whole when discussing the impact of change but actually we can get a clearer account by looking at communities. Whilst local history may be seen as "less important", in this post, Joanna Rickert-Hall argues that history's big stories are "merely a compendium of many little stories or histories".
Does history start at home or do we need to start with the big stories? Interested in local history? Why not discover more about where you live...
* The news that 'entire streets' of Roman London have been uncovered in the City has led to the site being dubbed "the Pompeii of the North". Museum of London archaeologists (MOLA) say that it contains the largest collection of small finds ever recovered on a single site in London, (covering a period from the AD 40s to the early 5th Century) and this video explains their remarkable survival.
With the Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition on at the moment, this find really couldn't have come at a better time!
* Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has topped a list of teachers' favourite books, compiled by the Times Educational Supplement (TES). There has been some controversy following the choice of books on the list but I think it has managed to encompass the key stages in children's reading.
Which books would you add or take away?
* An Auschwitz survivor is using social media to help find his long lost twin brother. Menachem Bodner, born Eli Gottesman, survived Auschwitz as a child and was later adopted, now aged 73, he is trying to trace his twin, Jeno, who he last saw at the concentration camp. The twins (born in Ukraine) have "matching" camp ID tattoos: A 7733 and A 7734. You can view Menachem's Facebook page and help with the search here.
Social media and the Internet often get a bad rap, but used for projects like this, hopefully there will be a happy ending...
* We have been having fun going back to basics in the office this week with this browser emulator (who remembers how bad Internet Explorer 2.0 looked?!) It just goes to show how quickly things change. Speaking of updates, with the return of everyone's favourtie advertising executives on television, Mashable are asking, what would the 21st century Mad Men office look like?