tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post5655913831328387545..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: Novelists and their sources - by Gillian PolackMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-36379673673704545052019-03-02T04:52:48.844+00:002019-03-02T04:52:48.844+00:00Thanks, Gillian, a fun post! I have a copy of the ...Thanks, Gillian, a fun post! I have a copy of the letters of Tolkien and downloaded some Paston letters from Gutenberg. I suspect you might need to be a bit more leaned that me to make anything of the pipe rolls. However, primary sources are good. I’ve had great pleasure in downloading issues of the Women’s Weekly from the 1930s and 1940s. So full of advice on how to make the best of your ration card, or how to run your house smoothly, admiration of new movie stars and after the war, a reference to something happening in San Francisco which I realised was the start of the UN. There was even an issue with a painting of Stalin on the cover! <br /><br />When I was told we had to use primary sources for Year 8 history, I assumed you had to look up some actual primary sources(turned out they just meant pictures of objects in the textbook!). I found a snippet of Ibn Fadlan’s writings where he described Vikings he had met as absolutely filthy, describing their revolting habits. Then I found another text, written much later by an Englishman who complained that those annoying guys were getting all the girls because they were clean, damn them! I read them and discussed both with the kids, who enjoyed them. <br />They really take you there in a way secondary texts can’t. Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.com