Retrospect
Journal.

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY'S HISTORY, CLASSICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE

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  • Laboratory Scotland: the ‘radical’ Local Government Reform and Re-Reform in Scotland, 1963-1996

    Written by Inge Erdal. Over the decades, Scotland has witnessed an enormous amount of centralised wrangling with its local government structures. From Royal Commissions to Governance Reviews, the political structure of the nation has rarely been shaped by local communities.

  • Rehabilitating Haitian Vodou

    Written by Charlie Horlick. Haitian Vodou is a syncretic set of religious practices grounded in the experiences of Atlantic Slavery. They have been attacked since their very inception.

  • “A Matter of History”: The 1776 Report and the Battle over American Education

    Written by Jess Womack. Former-President Trump’s 1776 Commissions is a threat to historical truth-telling. Worryingly, its removal is unlikely to stop the use of history to further white supremacy.

  • Bridgerton Review

    Written by Jenn Gosselin. Bridgerton is the newest Netflix show taking the world by storm. Framed as a Regency style Gossip Girl, Jenn Gosselin takes a look at the enormous popularity of the show.

  • John Dee: Elizabeth’s Tudor ‘Wizard’

    Written by Melissa Kane. A key advisor of Elizabeth I, early supporter of a British Empire, and student of the supernatural, the life of John Dee has somewhat fallen to the wayside of Tudor history, but what did he bring to Tudor life and its legacies?

  • From Creativity to Repression: Art and Revolution in Russia, 1905-1935

    Written by Jack Bennett. Founded in 1915 by avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich, Suprematism as an art movement concerned itself with “the supremacy of pure artistic feeling.” Although it would eventually fall victim to Stalinism and creative oppression, its legacy remains as a key movement during the Russian Revolution.

  • The European Union and its Totalitarian Nightmare

    Written by Inge Erdal. The concept of totalitarianism has a long and twisted history through Europe’s twentieth century. It has been latched upon from all political angles, but does it really have any analytical use?

  • Review: A Natural History of Ghosts

    Written by Melissa Kane. Tales of the dead coming back to haunt us have been told throughout history, varying across time and region. ‘A Natural History of Ghosts’ explores the phenomenon of the supernatural and how the relationship between the living and the dead has an important contemporary relevance.