We have two sets of books to give away this month:
Ann Turnbull is one of our History Girl Reservists, to whom we are very grateful. She asks the question:
'If you felt compelled to emigrate, where would you go - and why?' She wrote about travelling with a baby in the seventeenth century here.
Five winners may choose either Alice in Love and War or Seeking Eden. You can read about them here and here.
And new History Girl Manda Scott, who will be joining us full time in August, offers five copies of The Eagle of the Twelfth, which she wrote about here
She asks: 'If you could rewrite history by changing the outcome of just one big battle, which one would it be - and why?'
As always, the competitions are limited to UK readers. Closing date 9th July.
If I felt compelled to emigrate right now - I would definitely go to America. Not for the any of the popular reasons either. No, if I had to emigrate anywhere, I would choose America - simply for the reason that it is one of the, if not the, most accessible places for disabled people in the world. It would be absolute Heaven for me! You have no idea how depressing it can be to not be able to get into another shop because of stairs or your wheelchair! - I imagine that I would also probably never leave America, either!
ReplyDeleteAlso, if I could rewrite history by changing the outcome of just one big battle - it would be The Battle of Mons, the first battle in World War One. I would go back and stop the whole thing. To be honest, I think that too many people died to make that battle worth fighting.
Thanks! :)
I would probably choose to emigrate to Australia because one of my best friends lives out there now and of course for the sunny weather! I also have family in New Zealand so it would be nice for them to be over there.
ReplyDeleteThanks to the authors and good luck everyone :)
I wouldn't change the outcome of any battles. Instead I'd change the Treaty of Versailles in the hope that if the Allies had been less aggressively restrictive to the Germans after World War One, we might not have had World War Two. (It is only a hope, mind - I'm fairly sure Hitler would still have been Hitler.)
ReplyDeleteI would emigrate to Canada. It's a beautiful country with plenty of space to breathe, wide open spaces and fantastic cities. It also has many of the benefits of America but the people are much more like us!
ReplyDeleteI think I'd go for Sweden. They come closer than most countries to a tolerant and open society. They have an excellent work-life balance, regularly taking a whole month off in summer to enjoy beautiful scenery and simple, natural pleasures. Facilities for young families are excellent, encouraging gender equality, and they are culturally rich, open, tolerant and economically successful. Plus, their houses always seem to be beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to, I think I'd emigrate to Canada - I speak English (& a smattering of French), it's got huge amounts of beautiful wild places, and I'd love to learn more about its history.
ReplyDeleteAs for battles ... hm ... what if the Battle of Cajamarca (the first attack by Pizarro & co on the Inca Empire) hadn't been a Spanish victory? Not sure how plausible an outcome that could have been, but it might have changed a lot of things - maybe more of the indigenous culture would have survived.
On the first question, I am American and as a bookish child I always dreamed of living in England which was the home of so many of my favourite books. So when I was 18, I moved to the UK for university and never went back! It was so much more like the books than I thought possible... So, Britain is still my ideal immigrant destination even though I live here :)
ReplyDeleteI can't think of a good response to the battle question, I'm afraid - I always skimmed the battles in my history books... I think I'd say I wouldn't change any of them - we've all seen in fiction what happens if you try to change history!
The battle question is difficult, isn't it! You could go on and on with what might have happened... Anyway, if you believe in multiple universes then perhaps somewhere there's a universe where Richard III wasn't killed at Bosworth Field and Henry Tudor never snatched the throne of England. I think Richard wasn't half as bad as he was painted (history written by the victors, and all that). During his short reign he instituted laws equivalent today to bail and legal aid, and he was always popular on his home ground in the North. Added to which, we would have been spared David Starkey and endless television series about the Tudors!
ReplyDeleteI would choose to live in a Scandinavian country. I grew up in a hot
ReplyDeletetropical climate so would like to try another extreme. Endless
daylight in summer sounds fascinating, although I may find the dark
winters may wear thin after a while..
Climate influences so many cultural aspects you don't notice until you
move to a different part of the globe, such as food, housing style and
furniture/decor, type of shops and popular sport and entertainment.