Horrible History

April 28, 2008

Contested Boundaries

Gavin Robinson is hosting the next Military History Carnival and has set the theme of contested boundaries. He has challenged the blogshere to post on the subject so here goes...

 

I am a historian.

I would consider myself a professional historian. I have a post graduate degree in Military History. I have carried out original research that has furthered an historical debate.

I have obtained research skills, sat in dusty libraries and read obscure books. I can spot a Marxist historian from twenty paces.

But I don't publish.

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But I do publish.

On the other hand I am a writer and researcher. I write children's history. It requires no original resource. I regurgitate other people's work. I devour the knowledge and then reform it in a way that the younger generation can read. I do this for money. Don't get me wrong I love the subject, but ultimately I do it for money.

But there's more...

For years I have worked as a researcher for Terry Deary. I have helped write the ultimate in popularist history - the Horrible Histories series.

Am I a historian?

September 04, 2007

ibiblio

I am currently up to my eyes researching for Terry Deary's latest Horrible History book. The focus is spies during WW2. I am lucky this time around in that we have some extra help from experts on operations in France. This leaves me just every other country involved in the war!

When researching I am always looking for free and accurate resources. You never know what a project is going to throw up and though I am always on the look out for cheap, second hand books, you can't cover all bases.The library is obviously a great place, but if I can get the information through a digital resource then it saves time and money.

One site that is sometimes of great help is ibiblio. They have a huge collection of free ebooks, but mostly importantly they have loads of history stuff. So enjoy.

Oh yeah, when you get bored check out Project Gutenberg.

 

Me

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