It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a woman in possession of a love of history, must be in want of a blog.
In my last post, on English and North American death records from 1647 to the present, I briefly mentioned how the development of the industrial city in 19th century Europe and North America changed patterns of disease and mortality. The dreadful overcrowding in the slums, together with a lack of adequate water supply, particularly encouraged contagious …
Continue reading Filth, disease and Dickens: Jacob’s Island, a London slum
Shakespeare's plays have been censored ever since they were first performed. Some, particularly the history plays, were censored in his own time because they were considered unwise, or even treasonous, in the contemporary political climate. In the 19th century, Shakespeare plays were also often censored, though for their racy and 'indecent' passages rather than their …