Imperialism
Shin-Kickers From History: William Wilberforce and the Abolition of the British Slave Trade
Unlike many other shin-kickers from history, William Wilberforce was a card-carrying member of the privileged classes–wealthy, educated, male, white. Born in 1759 to a wealthy merchant family in the Yorkshire port of Hull, Wilberforce spent his teen years and early adult life in what he later described as “utter idleness and dissipation”. While a student…
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Macaulay’s Education Minute
I often check in with My Own True Love when I’m unsure about a blog topic.* When I asked him what he knows about Thomas Babington Macaulay he said “He sounds very distinguished.” I explained that Macaulay is best known as the most important writer of Whig history,** but that I think his real importance…
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Review: The Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42
I’ve written on this blog before about the first British invasion of Afghanistan, and the disasters that followed. In fact, I’ve written about it more than once. It’s a story that never fails to fascinate me, but when I received William Dalyrmple’s The Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42 to review I…
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