The Long, the Short and the Very Short

Whenever I look at newspapers from my youth - the 1960s and 1970s - I am struck by how much more reading there was in them - so many words and so much text, even in tabloid papers. It does seem to suggest that our attention span is getting smaller. Of course, it has been claimed that the internet is to blame for this, but I’m doubtful....

Read more »

Resurrecting a Lost Lecture

In July 2003, I was asked to give a lecture at the Institute of Historical Research in London to mark the launch of British History Online, which has since established itself as one of the most important digital resources in the humanities. My 2003 lecture was to be the usual crystal-ball gazing sort of thing, and I rashly decided...

Read more »