I have finally retired the link to the Orwell Diaries from my blogroll, as the site editors have posted the last entry from G.O.'s wartime journal. Orwell went to work for the B.B.C.* in late 1942, and did not resume keeping a diary until 1946 (and his postwar diary focused almost exclusively on trivia). It's been fun following his account of World War Two.
Replacing Mssr. Blair is a link to a new weblog put together by a group of graduate students and recent Ph.Ds in early American history, The Junto. The site launched a couple of weeks ago, and already the authors have published several excellent articles on Jay Gitlin's Bourgeois Empire, the communitarianism of the Founding Fathers, the best history books of 2012, and other subjects. I look forward to following their exploits.
Your humble narrator has also been alerted to this list of the 50 best American history blogs, in which his humble site appears as number 45. Huzzah!**
Updated Update, 4 January 2013: Allow me to introduce my readers to "Baby Got Bactria," Briana Kristler's research blog on commerce, law, and architecture in pre-modern Balkh (Bactria). Really, how could one not support a weblog with that title?
* If memory serves, the B.B.C.'s headquarters was the architectural model for the Ministry of Truth in 1984, and one of the conference rooms where Orwell's section met was Room 101.
** Pronounced "hoozay." Really!
You deserve the recognition :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on being one of the 50 best history blogs, David, and let me second the comment that you deserve it. Unfortunately, I followed your links to the Junto site and just "wasted" two hours reading it and following their links to about half a dozen other sites. Now I really need to get back to work! Those essay questions are not going to write themselves.
ReplyDeleteHappy Trails,
KO