Category: Reviews
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Judas and the Black Messiah (2021): Mississippi Burning and the Role of American Government in Films of the Civil Rights Era
Written by Suzanne Elliott. Representations of Civil Rights Era law enforcement in cinema since the 1980s have been generous, emphasising a fight for justice and tolerance. In this review, Suzanne Elliott examines how Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) breaks this trend, and why such a disruption is welcome.
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Review: Sistersong, Lucy Holland (2021)
Written by Melissa Kane. Lucy Holland’s Sistersong is an enchanting piece of historical fantasy that digs into early Anglo-Saxon Britain.
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Review: Our Time is Now: Race and Modernity in Postcolonial Guatemala, Julie Gibbings (2020)
Written by Jamie Gemmell. Dr Julie Gibbings’ 2020 work on postcolonial Guatemala offers an ambitiously broad examination of race and modernity, creating a multi-vocal historical narrative which is simultaneously complex and readable.
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Review: Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell (2020)
Written by Melissa Kane. Maggie O’Farrell’s is a magisterial text. The writing is sublime, bringing to life Elizabethan Stratford-upon-Avon. However, it is a difficult text and requires a degree of familiarity with its inspiration, Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
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Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Slavery: Contending with the Inhumane
Written by Justin Biggi. Video game developer Ubisoft has received praise for the historical accuracy of its popular ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series. However, as with many other forms of popular media, the issue of slave ownership – a well-documented aspect of the Ancient Greek world – is heavily diluted for its audience.
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Review: The Ripper
Written by Jenn Gosselin. The new Netflix series on the Yorkshire Ripper killings revisits the series of murders and attacks from the 1970s and 80s. Prompting protests at the time from women wanting to feel safe at night, has this release highlighted a lack of change in the years since?
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Review: Goodbye, My Havana, Anna Veltfort – A Saga of Memories, Idealism, and Undying Love
Written by Lingxiao “Linda” Gao. Anna Veltfort’s book, Goodbye, My Havana: The Lift of a Gringa in Revolutionary Cuba, is both extremely detailed and expressive. Through its use of primary sources, it works both as a piece history writing and history-making.
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Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”: In Defence of Excess
Written by Alden Hill. Critics did not respond well to Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”. Yet, is there more to be said for the excess of the movie?
Retrospect Journal 