Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i History Extra

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SOMETHING FISHY The wartime shortage of meat and fish encouraged the Ministry of Food to popularise alternatives such as whale meat and snoek piquant (snook) imported from South Africa. Newspapers and radio broadcasts provided instructions on how to prepare and cook these fish. Yet not everyone was sold on their benefits. One commentator claimed that whale meat was rather like trying to eat the inner tube of a car tyre. THE SUPERSTAR VEGETABLE The Ministry of Food spent much of the war encouraging the population to eat more carrots – chiefly because they were particularly suited to gardens and allotments. In fact, government officials were so enamoured of the vegetables that they even suggested that children should eat them instead of lollies. The idea that carrots improve your eyesight largely…

“Faced with a ratings crisis, the BBC realised that eight to 12 year olds wanted action on their screens– not Jane Eyre serials” At 5 o’clock on Thursday 16 October 1958, in homes across Britain millions of children, some sprawled lazily across living room floors and others perched eagerly on settees, were introduced to a brand-new television programme. Blue Peter promised its young viewers “Toys, model railways, games, stories, [and] cartoons” in a weekly 15-minute show presented live from the BBC studios by Christopher Trace and Leila Williams. The launch was strikingly low-key. There were no special features in the Radio Times, which seemed far more excited about the final of Miss World. In any case, the new series was just one more children’s programme among many. That same week…

June 1948 On 11 June 1948 Albert I, the first of six rhesus monkeys in Project Albert, is launched aboard an American-built V2 missile from White Sands, New Mexico. Apart from some fruit flies in 1947, they are the first animals to ride rockets, sometimes reaching altitudes of 80 miles and higher. August 1960 Two Russian dogs named Belka and Strelka are the first animals to fly in orbit and return alive, having circled the Earth an astonishing 18 times. The capsule’s TV camera captures footage of Belka vomiting and tearing at her harness during the flight. The Soviets say a human will soon fly in space – a prediction that comes true when Yuri Gagarin goes into orbit the following April. September 1968 Two Russian steppe tortoises fly around…

Kathryn Harkup on Shakespeare’s death scenes “Strangely, people don’t often talk about Shakespeare’s death scenes. Not only were they dramatically important, but Shakespeare tended to write plausible deaths. Why did he bother? He was writing plays! He could have just had an actor flounce on the floor and die – it didn’t have to be accurate – but, extraordinarily, he paid special attention to the details in his descriptions.” Caroline Shenton on Britain’s artistic treasures during the Second World War “At the start of the war, the national collections were moved to places such as country houses and castles. It was a question of finding friends or connections who had empty spaces where artworks could be stored. The crown jewels ended up in an underground tunnel below Windsor Castle where…

Conquered by Eleanor Parker Bloomsbury, 272 pages, £20 We all know the 1066 story: Edward the Confessor dies; Harold Godwinson succeeds him; William of Normandy seizes the crown; England becomes Norman. So far, so obvious – but this excellent book offers an original premise: that there is much new to learn by considering the children whose lives were upended by the Conquest. This is, in part, a story of the sins of the fathers, as Eleanor Parker explores how Harold’s children carved out new lives post-1066 despite their damaged prospects. Some of Harold’s relatives lived and prospered outside Norman England. Their lives are remembered not in English nor Norman records but, rather, in Scandinavian sources, because “the future of this family did not lie in England, and they were soon…

How did this documentary come about? A few years back I wrote a play about the making of the Bayeux Tapestry [Bayeux, BBC Radio 4, starring Katy Brand]. And the reason I got interested in writing that play was because I’d read a newspaper article about how ambiguous the Tapestry is. On the face of it, it’s a piece of propaganda for the Normans. It was likely commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux [William the Conqueror’s half-brother], and it’s saying that William was absolutely entitled to become king of England, the Normans were justified in invading, and Harold Godwinson was a bad man. But when you look at the Tapestry, Harold isn’t portrayed as entirely bad. Also, there’s a big subtext about how hard life was for the Anglo-Saxons after…

Muhammad Ali 1942-2016 IN PROFILE Muhammad Ali was an American boxer, activist and poet. Born Cassius Clay, he changed his name after converting to Islam. Nicknamed “The Greatest”, he won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics and became the heavyweight champion of the world. In the mid-1980s he made public his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease, a condition that may have been linked to head blows sustained during bouts. “White supremacists loathed him. He’s one of the most underrated black rights activists of the whole civil rights movement” When did you first hear about Ali? As a kid I got very involved in his story because everyone said I looked a bit like him. He was the greatest boxer of his era, and arguably the greatest sportsman of the…

1. Secret poets Of all the activities we might connect with the East German secret police, creative writing would probably be fairly low on the list. And yet a new book, reviewed on p83, reveals the existence of a Stasi poetry society. 2. Baa humbug There are so many arresting details in our Second World War food piece, but one that caught my eye was the creation of the Murkey – a piece of sheep meat that was shaped like a turkey for Christmas (page 46). 3. Pucker down In this month’s Anniversaries, Helen Carr highlights one of the more unusual steps taken to combat plague in the 16th century: a ban on public kissing in the Italian city of Naples (page 14).…

EYE-OPENER Miniature marvels If historical films are to be believed, medieval warfare was fought by massed ranks of men astride huge horses that were just as fearsome as their riders. Yet a new study suggests that such mounts may instead have been on the small size – indeed, no larger than what would today be considered a pony. That’s one of the findings made by a team of UK experts, including the University of Exeter’s Dr Katherine Kanne, who analysed the bones of around 2,000 horses dating from between AD 300 and 1650, found at more than 170 archaeological sites around England. The research, combined with evidence drawn from documentary and literary sources, reveals that the majority of those animals measured less than 14 hands (1.4 metres) tall. It’s thought…

''It is unsurpassed among the books that came out of the war'' Recently, I saw the absolutely enthralling new production of Cabaret, which tells the tale of American writer Cliff Bradshaw in 1930s Berlin. This musical chronicles Bradshaw’s relationship with nightclub singer Sally Bowles, the fictional alter ego of young Jean Ross – later a prominent writer, political activist and war correspondent in the Spanish Civil War. Cabaret is based on a book by Christopher Isher-wood. A friend of English poets Stephen Spender and WH Auden, who also spent time in the German capital, he moved to Berlin in the dying days of the Weimar Republic to teach English and to indulge in its hedonistic nightlife. But time was running out: “There was a sensation of doom to be felt…

1 Sleep-deprivation Some witchfinders kept suspects pacing up and down during their interrogations, refusing them rest and sleep. It was rightly believed that this fatiguing technique was a way to break down mental coherence, and wrongly believed that it would access the truth. While Matthew Hopkins is often credited with inventing this technique for his interrogation of Bess Clarke, he stated that it was approved and perhaps suggested by local magistrates. He was also assisted by a team of watchers, although a contemporary woodcut (below) shows him as the heroic, lone “Witchfinder General”. Today sleep deprivation is categorised as either “inhumane and degrading treatment” or as a form of torture. It reliably produces exhaustion, confusion and compliance. 2 The strip-search Suspected witches would be stripped naked so that witchfinders could…

David Musgrove: To quote from your introduction, “This book is concerned chiefly with the Normans’ explosive rise to power, their establishment in Normandy, and their 11th-century conquests.” Can you briefly chart that story for us? Judith Green: The Duchy of Normandy originated with a group of Vikings led by a man called Rou or Rollo. They were granted land in the Seine Valley by Charles the Simple, king of the west Franks, in the year 911. This was originally part of Charlemagne’s empire; he had been king of the Franks, king of the Lombards and the first emperor of what became known as the Holy Roman Empire, ruling over a huge swathe of territory in Europe. But after his death in 814, over time Charlemagne’s territory was divided into the…

Uncontrollable Women: Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries by Nan Sloane IB Tauris, 304 pages, £20 On 16 August 1819 at St Peter’s Fields, Manchester, violence hung heavy in the air. Some 80,000 protesters had converged there to demand the reform of parliamentary representation and manhood suffrage. Within their ranks were around 9,000 vocal women, proudly carrying banners. Incensed by the demonstration, the authorities ordered for the crowds to be dispersed, and the protesters were charged by cavalry. Of the 18 who died as a result, four were women; indeed, it is estimated that more than one-quarter of the 654 casualties were women. An eyewitness recalled that “a woman who was near the spot where I stood, and who held an infant in her arms, was sabred over the head, and her…

Rebels Against the Raj: Western Fighters for India’s Freedom by Ramachandra Guha William Collins, 496 pages, £25 In his new study, Ramachandra Guha provides seven biographies of “white-skinned heroes and heroines”, selected on the grounds that they “decisively changed sides, identifying completely with India, meeting Indians on absolutely equal terms as friends and lovers, and as comrades on the street and in prison too”. Overall, his book is a passionate paean of praise and, though there is much to admire in his protagonists, such an approach runs the risk of not offering a sufficiently nuanced “warts and all” picture, especially given its biographical format. Guha’s stated objective is to tell “a new (or new-ish) story”. On that basis, the first “rebel” featured is a surprising choice, because Annie Besant is…

SOCIAL Waterloo Sunrise by John Davis (Princeton University Press, 600 pages, £30) London calling During the 1960s and 70s, Britain’s capital was transformed, being mythologised in the mid-sixties as a “swinging” city, with its West End shows and Chelsea pot parties. But as the seventies drew to a close, London was in the grip of deindustrialisation, with unemployment rocketing. In each chapter of this colourful book John Davis explores different aspects of the changing city, from cabbies to the sex trade. IRELAND Burning the Big House by Terence Dooley (Yale University Press, 368 pages, £25) Stoking the fires From 1912 to 1923 Ireland was engulfed by revolutionary fervour, with bloody insurrections breaking out. Terence Dooley examines this period from a novel perspective: through the “Big Houses”. Owned by British elites,…

Here’s a selection of the exciting content that’s coming up on our website historyextra.com Women’s history week Join us from 7 March 2022 as we explore the histories of women around the world, with new articles on the historical inventions dreamed up by women, and the places women have fought to gain access and representation – plus a brand-new quiz on the suffragettes. historyextra.com/womens-history The life and times of Mary, Queen of Scots Just six days old when she became queen of Scotland, Mary is often remembered for her three doomed marriages, as well as her relationship with her cousin, Elizabeth I. But there’s much more to her story, as Dr Linda Porter explains in a guide to her life. historyextra.com/mary-qos South Asian women in Regency England As Bridgerton introduces…

Rana Mitter “It’s half a century since Richard Nixon’s epoch-making visit to China. As today’s US-China relations become strained, what does that ‘week that changed the world’ have to tell us about making friends across fences?” Rana revisits the Cold War diplomatic mission that thawed glacial Sino-US relations on page 25 Judith A Green “I’m very interested in 19th and early 20th-century depictions of the Normans, including the statuary of William the Conqueror and Rollo: they’re always in heroic poses. Even down to the late 20th century, if you read a book about the Normans, it was very much a success story.” Judith chronicles the Normans’ origins on page 76 Mike Pitts “How was Stonehenge built? Trying to answer that question brings us closer than any other line of research…

In January, four people involved in the tearing down of a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol were cleared of criminal damage, reigniting the debate about the role of historical statues in our view of the past. Historian and broadcaster Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner), for instance, tweeted that “statues are put up in praise, they can be taken down in condemnation. That is not changing the past, it’s reflecting what we value in our present.” As you’d expect, Jenner’s remark prompted much discussion. Aspidistra (@Aspidistra MW) countered that “statues are meant to be a reminder, so let’s leave them all up and add plaques and explanations as to what they represent – let’s make people think.” Gee Aitch Cee (@Scriblit) noted that “both [erecting and taking down statues]…

18 MARCH 978 King Edward is murdered at Corfe The teenage monarch is viciously stabbed in the back On 18 March 978, a brutal murder was committed at Corfe in Dorset – and the victim was Edward, king of the English. “No worse deed for the English race was done than this,” the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle lamented. The main suspect for the assassination was Edward’s stepmother, Ælfthryth, widow of his father, King Edgar. Certainly she had a motive: with Edward dead, his younger half-brother – her son, Æthelred – would inherit the English throne. It has been supposed that she invited the young king to Corfe to participate in a hunt, with murder in mind. That March evening, as the hunters gathered, mounted and ready to ride out, Ælfthryth offered Edward…

Reading Talking Points (February), I was reminded once again how the phrases “history” and “the past” are frequently conflated. This is a common misconception by many people, and often inflames the “rewriting history” debate. Let’s be clear: “the past” is everything that has happened before “the present”. History (or histories), meanwhile, comprises stories about specific aspects of the past – events, people, periods and so on. Consequently, history will always be rewritten as our understanding of the past legitimately changes. This might be due to new sources coming to light to challenge our existing understanding, or as a result of studying familiar sources and drawing different conclusions from them. Furthermore, contemporary and future historians might ask different questions about the past or study it through a different lens, and thus…

Sarsens Stonehenge’s largest stones. They weighed between 4 and 40 tonnes and were quarried on the Marlborough Downs, 15-20 miles north of the site Bluestones These smaller stones weighed between 1 and 4 tonnes and are believed to have been transported to Stonehenge from the Preseli Hills in west Wales Megalith A large standing stone Trilithon A free-standing structure consisting of two upright stones and a third across the top (which is known as the Lintel) Dressing The act of sculpting the individual stones into a desired shape using smaller boulders of hard sarsen…

Within hours of launch, Laika was the most famous dog in history. A mongrel – a dash of husky, a smattering of terrier – and by all accounts a lovable, sweet-tempered animal, she was now travelling in space about 1,000 miles above the surface of the planet. The date was 3 November 1957, the location of her launch a secret missile site in Soviet Kazakhstan, and her rocket a converted nuclear missile – the biggest in the world. It needed to be big, because Laika’s mission was to do something no other organism had achieved in the 3.5 billion years since life began: to orbit the Earth, circling it approximately every 90 minutes at 10 times the speed of a rifle bullet. Laika wasn’t coming back: the technology didn’t yet…

The Stasi Poetry Circle by Philip Oltermann Faber & Faber, 224 pages, £14.99 When Guardian journalist Philip Oltermann offered to run a poetry club in an old folks’ home in King’s Cross, he found it a lot more challenging than expected. Some members just wanted a platform to read their own work; others preferred analysing great poetic works from the literary canon. One individual mostly just nodded off. This experience brought to mind an article Oltermann had read in news magazine Der Spiegel a few years earlier, about a circle of Stasi poets. Were those verse writers of the East German secret police an equally motley crew? And how did their leader manage such a group in a regime not known for encouraging freedom of thought or expression? The Stasi…

Hannibal: Rome’s Greatest Enemy by Philip Freeman Pegasus Books, 240 pages, £22 Was Hannibal Rome’s “greatest enemy”? Probably. He came dizzyingly close to wiping out the Roman Republic in the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) after his dazzling victories at Trasimene and Cannae in Italy. If he had followed that up with a win in his home territory at Zama (now in Tunisia), the rest of Roman – and possibly world – history might have been very different, as Philip Freeman considers in his epilogue. Hannibal had the chance to take Rome but didn’t, “because he believed it was unnecessary”. Hannibal made few mistakes in his career, as Freeman is at pains to point out, but the Carthaginian general’s greatest error of all was to not understand his enemy. He…

April issue on sale 17 March 2022 Mary Seacole Helen Rappaport offers a new take on the life and career of the black Victorian celebrity A quest for power Christopher de Bellaigue charts the remarkable rise of the 16th-century Ottoman leader Suleiman the Magnificent The darkest hour? Taylor Downing argues that 1942, rather than 1940, represented the low point of the Second World War for Britain and its leader Island mystery Cat Jarman tackles popular myths about the fate of the people of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)…