I had the wonderful opportunity of appearing on Dan Snow’s History Hit documentary about the bombing of Coventry Cathedral in which I discussed the impact of the bombing on the city and the wider war itself. The whole documentary can be found here at History Hit: https://tv.historyhit.com/watch/37337727#=
Teaching Resources
This may or may not be helpful, but I’ve put together a quick and basic guide on producing a literature review and gutting sources for history dissertations. I’m still getting used to being on camera so please bear with my awkward camera techniques, but hopefully this video will help give you an idea of how to progress with your literature review if you are a little uncertain. Please remember, these are just my suggestions.
The key things to remember are:-
-a literature review is not just a list of books. Don’t list every single source one at a time
– try to synthesis and summarise the key arguments. – try to get into the habit of “gutting” texts. You can’t read every source cover to cover.
I’ve attached a Word document with a template to help you think about some of the sorts of notes you should be taking. These are just my suggestions for the sort of questions you want to be answering as you gut a book. This template is just intended to be a starting point. Add your own questions and develop your own style as much as possible.
Here is David Lavery’s article on ‘How to Gut a Book’:
This is just a quick video offering some advice on how to pick a History dissertation topic for any final year students. These are just my tips. There are many like them. But these ones are just mine. Other people might have other suggestions or preferences – please feel free to add down below any tips you have that differ from mine.
Description of Video: Kristopher (me!) talks to the camera with the following timecodes appearing on screen as headings:
00:00 – 00:57 Introduction
00:58 – 03:18 Tip 1: Pick A Topic You Love
03:19 – 05:27 Tip 2: Consider Your Sources
05:28 – 06:25 Tip 3: Which Lecturers Can Help?
06:26 – 07:09 Tip 4: Originality – Make It Yours
07:10 – 08:21 Tip 5: Be Focused, Not Broad
08:22 – 09:38 Tip 6: Be Flexible
09:40 – 10:58: Summary
