thecatsouthebag: history

The Holocaust Memorial Trust Remembers All Genocides // The NUS Holocaust Debate

12:21:00

I'm writing this post fresh off the back of digesting the goings on at the annual NUS (National Union Of Students) Conference. 9 times out of 10, I agree with or understand the angle at which NUS members are coming from. When I do not, I accept delegates views - after all, the NUS was built on democratic foundations. However, I cannot stop myself from challenging today's outcry that the NUS should not commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

Any NUS affiliated student union can, from my understanding, recommend amendments to NUS policies. This year, the Birmingham Guild of Students put forward the idea of the NUS officially commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day. To me, this seems like a reasonable request. Many secondary schools, further education colleges, and youth organisations commemorate the day, so why shouldn't the NUS? But today I was shocked to see video footage pertaining to the dismissal of Holocaust Memorial Day by NUS delegates.

Darta Kaleja, from Chester University, challenged the notion, arguing that she was "against the NUS ignoring and forgetting other mass genocides and prioritizing others." Whilst I am fully aware that she "had nothing against Holocaust Memorial Day", and would never consider her or anyone else in the room to be anti-Semitic, I cannot help but think that both she and the clapping delegates have not done their research.

Holocaust Memorial Day has taken place since 2001, with the Trust becoming a registered charity in 2005. Since then, it has worked tirelessly to not only commemorate the Holocaust but the equally as harrowing genocides in Bosnia, Rwanda, Cambodia and Dafur. Events on Holocaust Memorial Day rarely centre on the Holocaust, but bring to light all genocides and the lessons we have learnt from their taking place.

Anyone can learn more about their work at http://hmd.org.uk/

Thankfully, the majority of delegates were for the commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, and the motion has been passed. The simple act of remembering the Holocaust at a national student level can only further the cause against genocide.

(I am well aware that me posting my opinion on this issue could cause backlash. That's just the way things go when anyone tackles a sensitive issue head on. I fully support the work of the Holocaust Memorial Trust and remembrance of all past genocides, in order to prevent these atrocities from happening again.)

Beth

exams

My Uni Revision Techniques

07:15:00

Every uni blogger has an opinion on the best way to revise. Every uni blogger thinks they have the answer to all your exam woes. But the truth is, no student can tell another student how to revise. We just have to work out a unique method that suits us ourselves. Today I want to share exactly how I revise for my history exams, in the hope that you may pick up a method that might work for you, or rule out the techniques that don't.

Colourful, novelty stationery makes revision days a little bit better...

Gathering my stationery and writing a to do list is the first task for my revision session. I take about 5 minutes to write out everything I need to achieve during my allotted time frame, making sure I don't miss anything important.

Spending time going over information and transferring it succinctly into spider diagrams works perfectly for me.

History exams at my uni tend to require students to answer two essay questions in two hours. Every topic is 99% guaranteed to come up in the exam, so we are advised to revise three topics fully and one topic partially for each exam.

Under these exam circumstances my revision tends to go like this:

1. Listen to/watch lecture recordings and summarise lecture topic in a A3 diagram.

2. Read/re-read and make notes on key seminar readings for each topic.

3. Re-read and make notes on any readings I have done for any coursework essays I chose to write on this topic.

4. Plan seminar questions and essay questions provided in the module handbook, in order to pull together all the information I have learnt. I do this in spider diagram form too. These plans then form the basis of my revision.

5. Highlight these plans until EVERYTHING is colourful (see picture above).

6. Repeat process for however many topics I need to revise, whilst also taking 30 mins out of each day (morning and night) to re-read and memorise existing planning sheets.

7. By the day of the exam, I have memorised each diagram, and am able to apply my knowledge to any essay question about any of the three topics.

An example of a finished lecture spider diagram

I hope this has helped one of you guys reading this. I remember being quite daunted as a fresher, as there was very little guidance from the university on how to revise as they assumed we already knew. Please do let me know if any of this method works for you, whether you be a fresher or a panicked 2nd/3rd year!

Good luck! Summer break is nearly here!

Beth x

50 book challenge

The Secret Poisoner by Linda Stratmann (Book #7)

04:07:00

If it wasn't already clear or you are new to this blog, I am massive history nerd. Particularly when it comes to medical history. When I saw this book up for review on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to review it!

The Secret Poisoner by Linda Stratmann explores poison and how it interacted with the courtrooms, medical professions and public in nineteenth century society. Stratmann argues that poison was typically hard to prove to be the cause of murder in the courtroom, as it was difficult to detect and often caused symptoms very similar to common causes of death of the nineteenth century. The rise of toxicology and the medical profession's fight to prove murder by poison is an aspect of medical history that has been largely ignored by academics, so it was really refreshing to read such a new take on murder and medicine.

Stratmann has the enviable ability of being able to construct a valid, complex, historical argument whilst telling a gripping story. So much so that I managed to rattle through 5 or 6 chapters on a 35 minute train commute. When I'm reading just one chapter for a seminar it can take me an hour and a half... Perhaps this ease of reading comes down to the sheer amount of case studies used by Stratmann to illustrate a particular point; case studies which are so far fetched that sometimes its hard to believe they are true!

But this disbelief is what is great about history, and Stratmann has captured this mystery perfectly. For someone who can get terribly bored of history books very quickly, I rattled through The Secret Poisoner and enjoyed every page. I really hope this is not the last we hear from Linda Stratmann, she has certainly proven herself to be one of the more engaging historians of the 21st century so far!

Before I go I would just like to say a big thank you to Net Galley, Linda Stratmann and Yale University Press for granting me access to an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to get your hands on a copy, The Secret Poisoner is out on March 22nd!

Beth x

50 book challenge

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (Book #5)

12:26:00

"I can point to one or two things I have definitely learned by being hard up. I shall never again think that all tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny, nor to be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the Salvation Army, nor pawn any of my clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a meal in a smart restaurant."

I did not know much about George Orwell, but what I did assume about him, I assumed incorrectly. Being the well known writer of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, I thought he would have lived a comfortable life as an author. But I couldn't have been further from the truth! Down and Out in Paris and London is in fact his memoir of his time living through poverty in London and Paris in the 1930s.

Orwell's account of his own poverty, in itself, is not one of tragedy or desperation. Yes, he lives on little to no money from one day to the next, and is in near constant search for employment, but he is only troubled by poverty for a matter of months. At most a year (the timescale is a bit uncertain). However, during his time in Paris and London, he learns a lot about what it was really like to be poor, and casts his own views about why poverty happens and how the burden can be lightened.

Being a history student, I feel like I have a firm grasp upon what life was like at particular points in time. But I had no idea of the scale of poverty in Europe during the 1930s. It was quite frankly shocking. It is clear that the government and the majority of the population had no real desire to ease poverty; the measures they put in place to do this were wholly inadequate and degrading in nearly all cases. Accommodating tramps in prison like cell blocks overnight, and landlords charging eight-pence for a small coffin bed in a cramped, dirty, loud and crowded conditions seemed like the appropriate response to these dire circumstances.

Drawing from his own experience, Orwell suggests his own set of social reforms that could
potentially ease the burden on the poor. From a socialist perspective he argues for self sufficient farms to replace tramp 'workhouses' and better conditions in overnight rooms. Both such simple and easily implementable ideas if it weren't for the ignorance of the government.

This should be on the top of the reading list for anyone who wants to discover the real history of the 1930's. Whilst great changes were taking place, it is important to remember that not everyone enjoyed the inter-war period.

history

How to Survive Deadline Week...

04:24:00

bbc war and peace

Appreciating the Costumes from War and Peace

10:12:00

australian history

Emus and Australia

08:28:00

book blogger

January Favourites

10:39:00

book blogger

Clothes Haul Winter 2016

09:18:00

cultural history

Memories of Freakery

12:50:00

gift guide

History Lover's Gift Guide

12:04:00

Fun history-related gifts are kind of hard to come by, most people think that its a category confined to books and 'the day you were born' newspaper excerpts. But there is so much more out there! Here are my five favourites from around the internet...

1. One Line A Day: A Five Year Memory Book, from £8.10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Line-Day-Five-Year-Memory/dp/0811870197/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8£9.95&qid=1452626465&sr=1-1&keywords=one+line+a+day

I have one of these diaries myself and absolutely love it. Each page represents a day in the year, and has enough room for 5 years of memories. Its cool just to write down the small and eventful things you do each day, and even better to look back over it when you write about the same day for the second, third, fourth and fifth time!

2. English Heritage Guess Who? £24.99

http://www.english-heritageshop.org.uk/toys-games/english-heritage-guess-who

This is a funny take on the original Guess Who, where the normal people are replaced with historical figures. Everybody loves playing games with friends, so surely you can't go wrong with this gift!

3. Castle Life Mug, £9.95

http://www.presentindicative.com/collections/history/products/castle-life-mug-6260

Everyone drinks some sort of hot drink, everyone needs mugs. For castle nerds (if that's even a thing), this mug is great! Its covered in cartoon cross-sections of a castle and the people who lived within them. For people who perhaps work in history, this would be a great conversation starter in any office.

4. Become a Scottish Lord or Lady Kit, £29.99

https://www.ijustloveit.co.uk/product/become-a-lord-or-lady/

I genuinely thought this was a joke, but you can actually make yourself a Lord or Lady of a very small piece of land in Scotland. Yes its an expensive gift, and I'm not totally 100% convinced that it is legal in any way, but its a laugh.

5. Genealogy: Essential Researching Methods, £14.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genealogy-Essential-Research-Helen-Osborn/dp/0709091974/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452624359&sr=8-1&keywords=genealogy

Pretty much anyone with a interest in history has some sort of interest in their family tree. This book goes through the methods of discovering and making your family tree, and preserving it for your family. Its easy to read, informative and will open the doors to a potentially lifelong hobby!

These were just five of the gifts I found whilst looking online. I simply searched 'history gifts' and so much came up! Have you guys received/given any gifts like this that you've really loved? Let me know in the comments below!

Beth x

50 book challenge

If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home - Lucy Worsley (Book #1)

04:30:00

This week (1st-8th January 2016) I read If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home by Lucy Worsley. For those of you who don't know, this was the first book in my 2016 50 Book Challenge. Here's what I thought of it:

After spending a term studying the ins and outs of Victorian society, I decided to pick up this social history. I had read and seen some of Worsley's works before, so I knew that this read would be well written and engaging from the beginning.

Lucy Worsley has a knack of making all kinds of history accessible. Honestly, anyone could pick this up and have no trouble understanding her ideas, comments and historical ideas. But most of all, this concise yet clear history of the home strikes a perfect balance between history and literature.

Whilst most historians make use of primary sources such as photos and first hand accounts of events, Worsley opts to primarily use works of literature, both fiction and non-fiction, to elaborate upon her arguments. For me this made for an enjoyable addition to the book, as I love reading literature and making connections.

I particularly liked how Worsley focused on the very mundane aspects of everyday life, from washing up to pajamas, make up, and clutter. Along with more obvious topics of discussion such as the changing nature of the bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen, Worsley manages to chart the significant changes towards the houses we live in today. It kind of makes you appreciate your bedroom a little more when you consider that up until the early Tudor period, whole families would sleep on one mattress on the floor!

I would certainly recommend this short history of the home; it took no time to read, which is a luxury for me as most works of history take weeks to read all the way through. There is no fluffy, unnecessary historical language, which makes it accessible to everybody - you don't have to be an expert to enjoy reading this!

That's my first review of my 50 Book Challenge! I've gone a bit book crazy in the January sales so I've got quite a lot of (hopefully) brilliant reads lined up. Watch out next Friday, as I'll be posting my next review.

Beth x