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...You could say that practicing journalism in the field for the first time in my life has opened my eyes to a whole world of people I would never have met otherwise. At the same time, it has made me more aware of the heavy responsibility that journalists must face if they are to be honest and do their jobs properly...
Claire George muses on journalistic morals and responsibilities.
Claire George attends and Islamic society dinner.
Did you know that women used to pee in the pews of English churches?
Claire George tells of a series of children's books which throw a different light on history.
Continue reading "Grimy British History For Kids Of All Ages" »
...The well-being of the group has much greater importance in Korea than it does in England, where individualism and personal privacy are highly valued...
Claire tells how she came to appreciate the qualities of another culture.
Claire offers advice on contacting editors by e-mail.
Claire tells of the silver-tongued thief who stole a king's crown from the Tower of London.
Claire criticises the arguments in a book which pours scorn on citizen journalism.
...Journalists are lucky because people share so much with them, but it's an awesome responsibility. They have other people's words, identities and reputations in their hands. They have to get it right because otherwise they could ruin the people they write about...
But journalists should hold on tight to their objectivity when they go ghost hunting, Claire warns.
Claire reviews two novels which successfully carried her back to the 19th Century.
Claire thinks that citizen journalists do not need qualifications, though some could benefit from formal training.
Claire abandons her ambition to be a novelist - with some regrets.
Claire lets us into some of the secrets of British Parliamentarians.
Claire tells of the thriving print trade in London in the 17th Century.
...I realized that it was ridiculous to take myself so seriously when there are billions of other people just like me. We are all special or none of us is special...
Claire reflects on words delivered by Samuel Jounson in 1773.
Claire, who lived in Korea for some months, testifies that the British and the Americans are divided by a common language.
...I bought the book on the basis of my enjoyment of two of Eco's other novels,The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum.
To be honest, despite the glowing reviews on its cover, I didn't think it would be all that interesting. When I finished it this morning I was in no doubt that The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana is one of the best books I've ever read...
Claire reviews a novel by the Italian author, Umberto Eco.
...I don't think it's healthy for anyone to spend an hour a day writing about their innermost thoughts, unless a psychiatrist has told them that they need to do so...
Claire advises that going out and meeting people is healthier than obsessive blogging.
...In my experience, and that of vegetarian friends, some meat eaters can be quite hostile towards people who don't share their carnivorous habits.
I think it is because they believe that vegetarians have a holier than thou attitude and so feel threatened. Or perhaps in the manner of homophobic bigots who are secretly homosexual, they are vegetarians at heart but can't accept it....
Claire ponders a return to vegetarianism.
Claire conveys the excitement and satisfaction of historical research.
...We were driving directly to the home of my father's friends, who lived in rural Shropshire, on the English side of the Welsh border. I don't remember the journey clearly, but I think I might have been trying not to cry as I heard about the people jumping to their deaths.
It was the most horrible thing I had ever heard...
Claire recalls the day when it felt as though the world had cracked open.
...How many people are kept out of professions in medicine, law, academia, and journalism because they don't realise that it's what they want to do until it's too late?...
Claire says that age is no bar to academic study or making a major life change.
...I opened the first page, looked at the spidery 17th-century handwriting and then at the looming cathedral outside the window, and thought, "I've arrived! I'm a proper historian!..
Watching the film The Da Vinci Code reminds Claire of the exciting day when she first thought of herself as a real historian.
Claire tells of the life-changing effects of novels.
"I think that Westerners who know nothing about Korea will find that 'Taeguki' gives a human face to the country and its people. It won’t be so easy to carelessly propose another Korean war with the story of Jin-seok and Jin-tae in mind.''
Claire is moved by a South Korean war film.
Claire reviews a biography of Catherine de Medici, the Italian wife of Henry II of France, who spent her life pitting her wits against powerful noblemen who wanted to control the young kings and decide religious policy at a time when the country was violently split between Catholicism and Protestantism.
