Melanie Backe-Hansen: Protect The Pages

What a fun (but tricky) question, but I suppose the simplest way might be, ‘I look at who lived in a house in the past. From when it was built a long time ago through to now.’

I don’t really have a typical day as each house and each project will be different. However, I am usually either visiting an archive or library to delve through original documents and archives, which might include research trips to different parts of the country, or I will be spending time at home (or my local café) completing online research and piecing together all the research to write the history of the house.

I am reading Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers. I often read history books covering all sorts of subject areas but my escapist reading at the moment involves reading all the Dorothy L. Sayers books in order. I am a bit of a fan of murder mysteries and detective stories.

Gosh. I’ll be honest and say no. There are just too many. It also depends on the subject and the period of history. In researching the history of houses, I look at a range of periods of history, as well as the history of different parts of the country (depending on the age of the house and its location). I can go from reading about the Tudors through to events of the Civil War in the Midlands to the Industrial Revolution in the north of England, through to the inter-war period in London.

Definitely a bookmarker. I’m afraid I’m a bit precious about the condition of my books (or books I borrow from the library) so I like to protect the pages.

When I first moved to the UK. I grew up in Sydney, Australia, where I loved history but of course, there aren’t many old houses. My love of the history of houses was truly awakened when visiting old houses in the UK but also walking down the street anywhere in Britain and wondering about the history of the buildings and houses. Asking questions like, what was it like when it was first built? Or what type of people first lived there?

This is tricky as the nature of being a historian (no matter what your period or specialism) is to read a lot and to investigate a range of sources, as well as thoughts and books by different people. However, for a general overview of the study of history, I would recommend What is History? By E.R. Carr. For those interested in the history of houses there are also many options – from architectural history through to the social history of different places through different periods.

I could recommend my latest book, co-written with David Olusoga, A House Through Time, but I would also recommend The House by the Thames by Gillian Tindall which tells the story of one house by the Thames in London by looking at the former occupants of the house but also revealing the evolution of the area around the house as the decades and centuries past.

Black and British by David Olusoga. It has been on my ‘to-read’ list for a while but I am also due to start a new project on the history of a house that will involve looking at connections to black history.

Liberty’s Dawn: A People’s History of the Industrial Revolution by Emma Griffin. It is a fascinating look at the history of the Industrial Revolution in Britain told through the lives of ordinary working people. It looks at the social history of the time and the impact of the changing times. It also offers new insights into the assumed impact on working people from the late 18th century through to the 19th century.

I might say, Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson. It is a wonderful book published in 1934 (but republished in a lovely version by Persephone Books). It tells the story of life in an English village where, due to straightened circumstances, Miss Buncle writes a book (under the pseudonym John Smith) in the hope of making a little money. However, she uses the stories of her fellow neighbours and soon the village is in an uproar about the book as they all recognise themselves in the story.

It is a lovely light-hearted story with a happy ending and ideal for a bit of an escape. Of course, I would be one of the neighbours finding the book funny and enjoying everything going on in the village.

It is very difficult to narrow it down to just one book but I do remember falling in love with a book on life in medieval England when I was a child and I think that sparked my love of history. I’d also add Bleak House by Charles Dickens. I read a lot of historical literature and I have always been a fan of Dickens, but the labyrinth of stories intertwined in Bleak House is fantastic while also providing insights into social history during the 19th century.

Of course, like all historians, I have a large ‘to-read’ pile but I am most excited to read The Thirties: An Intimate History by Juliet Gardiner. The 1930s is a fascinating period and I can’t wait to delve into this!