In the early stages of World War I, the Raj came to the south coast of England in the form of over 4,000 wounded Indian soldiers. They convalesced in a number of specially constructed hospitals, including in the Brighton Pavilion.…
Alan Lester Colonial Realities Colonialism is, by its very nature, incompatible with many of the ideals of justice that we hold dear today. The very definition of the word, according to the Oxford Online Dictionary, is “the policy or practice…
With statues at the heart of the culture war over empire and with retain & explain as government policy, it’s important to explain them fully and sensitively. This has been tried in the case of the Redvers Buller statue in Exeter. A blog here on his career and its interpretation. Philip Halling / Statue of General Sir Redvers Buller / CC BY-SA 2.0
I hope to be able to run this summer school again next year now that places have sold out for 2023.
The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History has recently published my Extended Critique of Nigel Biggar’s book Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning. Prof. Biggar’s Reply was published alongside it. Like his history of colonialism, Biggar’s reply has unorthodox features, some of…
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03086534.2023.2209947
https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/05/26/what-the-crown-jewels-reveal-about-britains-colonial-past “Modern attitudes towards the legacy of colonialism are shifting. Younger Britons are more sceptical than their parents about their country’s role in world history. And as historians scrutinise sources from former colonies, hard truths about Britain’s historical empire are emerging. People are eager to know more. Community groups who were consulted during research for the exhibition said they wanted to learn about the Koh-i-Noor and Cullinan diamonds, explains Mr Farris. In a similar vein, many Western museums are becoming increasingly transparent about contested objects in their collections. Yet even this retain and explain policy can meet resistance. Professor Lester […]
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKWgZLYhBI&ab_channel=WarStudiesKCL
https://www.sunpub.info/deny-and-disavow
