The Georgians, A Forum: Part 4

by Penelope Corfield, Royal Holloway A few authors, having published a book, regard its appearance in print as a ‘done deal’. But many, if not most, writers enjoy the creative post-publication dialogue. Comments, criticisms, appreciations, denunciations, corrections: all are grist to the mill. Publication is like throwing a stone into a pool, hoping for ripples … Continue reading “The Georgians, A Forum: Part 4”

The Georgians: A Forum, Part 3

by Esther Wilson, University of York Given Penelope Corfield’s focus, in The Georgians, on connecting with the 21st-century audience, and my own public history background, Tom asked me to emphasise this sort of angle in my comment. I suppose in summary, I really found it a wonderful read and appreciated the way in which the … Continue reading “The Georgians: A Forum, Part 3”

The Georgians, A Forum: Part 2

by Dave Smith, University of Warwick As a specialist researcher it’s refreshing to read a general history, especially one which is such a good read as The Georgians. I enjoyed the thematic approach and the elasticity of the periodicity. The time-shifts at the end of chapters connect the reader to historical themes such as film, … Continue reading “The Georgians, A Forum: Part 2”

Unhomely Empire: A Forum, Part 3

By Onni Gust (University of Nottingham) I am writing this response in the uncomfortable and over-lit departure gate of Chicago O’Hare’s international airport, heading back to the UK from the NACBS conference, and from a state, Illinois, that I once fleetingly and ambivalently called ‘home’. This seems like an apt place to be reflecting on … Continue reading “Unhomely Empire: A Forum, Part 3”

Unhomely Empire: A Forum, Part 2

By Liz Egan (University of Warwick) With just four letters, “home” carries a diverse set of connotations ranging from comfort and belonging, to resistance and violence. In framing their book around the ‘unhomely’ nature of empire for the eighteenth-century British elite, Gust carefully interrogates the centrality of home and belonging to ideas about human difference … Continue reading “Unhomely Empire: A Forum, Part 2”

Unhomely Empire: A Forum, Part 1

By Ellen Smith (University of Leicester) In Unhomely Empire, Dr Onni Gust considers eighteenth and early-nineteenth-century conceptions of ‘home’ beyond the physical and material space of the house. Gust offers a complex understanding of the ideological and discursive work that home has performed as an emotional concept throughout history. They take the reader through the … Continue reading “Unhomely Empire: A Forum, Part 1”

Unhomely Empire: A Forum, Introduction

A year ago, BECC held a reading group and online discussion for our midlands colleague Onni Gust’s new book, Unhomely Empire: Whiteness and Belonging, c.1760-1830. Across two sessions of discussion, we explored the book’s analysis of how empire and whiteness made each other, its uses of intellectual and literary evidence across genres, and its relation … Continue reading “Unhomely Empire: A Forum, Introduction”