John Gartside

Taken from an original article by John Gartside in The Historians Magazine. It is extraordinary to think that a small island nation once controlled nearly a quarter of the world’s population and landmass. This simply illustrates the sheer magnitude of the British Empire. The journey of the British Empire is fascinating, in how the use of naval power built an empire spanning all 4 corners of the globe.

I feel somewhat sorry for Eugene Delacroix. His romantic era painting of ‘Liberty Leading the People’ is one of the finest examples of History painting. However, what it represents is usually forgotten. The painting’s dramatic feel has made it a symbol of French revolutionary liberty, and the 1789 revolution. Yet, this is wrong. What Delacroix painted was the July 1830 revolution. This important French Revolution is typically brushed aside because of its more famous predecessor.

John Gartside · Follow 3 min read · -- The main reason why many people simply brush over the field of historiography is because they don’t really know what it is. This is quite inevitable, as it isn’t a very simple or easy thing to define. However, allow me to do my best. Historiography is the study of how historians study history, i.e. the many sources or artefacts which historians use to understand the past.