As you sit at a desk trying to recall a mountain of information learnt in three hours each week for the last few months, it’s tempting to dream about pastures sunny. In this issue, we’ve provided you with the perfect fodder for those forgetful exam moments, though we’d recommend saving it for after you’ve walked out of the exam hall. Plus the Manchester Historian might be considered contraband. It’s summer, which means you’ll spend the next few months travelling or wishing you were.
Our articles cover travel in all its forms, from the medieval to the very modern. We’ve explored the precursor to modern travel, pilgrimage, and travel undertaken for reasons of necessity rather than pleasure by migrants throughout history. Technology has changed the face of travel and our article on the transition from horse to horsepower charts this with fascinating insight. The allure of travelling to foreign lands means that cultures and legends have sprung up around particularly prominent journeys, with our articles on the jet set and the Orient Express exploring just two of these. While many of us seek to actively avoid stress on holiday, a virulent industry for extreme travel exists today with surprising historical routes.
We have also included the regular sections that we hope have become familiar to you over the last five issues. While you may be wishing that the apocalypse had actually come in 2012 as you virtually live in Ali G, we’ve provided you with a helpful History You Should Know of The Mayans to keep you sane instead. Although we all know Mandela’s role in the story of apartheid, our knowledge of the events themselves can be a little rusty and so our second History You Should Know is a useful reminder. Our Undiscovered Hero, meanwhile, is Flora Tristan who alongside being a socialist writer and thinker also pioneered travel writing. Within Manchester’s history we’ve gone between two extremes, charting both high culture at Chetham’s and the more popular end of the spectrum with the Haçienda.
As ever, we’ve also looked at the history behind some of the headlines that have dominated the press in the last few months. From missing planes, to prominent deaths and the definition of fat and thin, our writers have examined a plethora of histories to help form a picture of our world today. You can form a literal picture of the year 1984 by looking at our Year In Photos.
With the end of exams also comes the end of an academic year and, for us, the end of our degrees. Though we’d like to cling on, this is our final issue as editors of the Historian. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our six issues as much as we’ve enjoyed creating them. Thanks must go to all of our editorial teams, contributors and helpers within the department. A special mention should go to Sasha Handley, who has provided immeasurable assistance to us throughout the year and keeps the Manchester Historian ticking over behind the scenes. Best of luck to Xan and Zoey who will be taking over the editorial mantle next year.
Thank you for reading and supporting the Manchester Historian throughout this academic year and enjoy Issue 14,
Alice and Charlotte