There are several objectives to this project. In the first instance, we'll be using Rutherfurd as a link between popular imagination and history. London tells us the nearly two thousand year story of the history of a place through the eyes of members of five families as they interact again and again across time. The micro-history of these imaginary families is placed within the context of the macro-history of a real culture. Historical fiction is an enduring genre, popular even among those who think academic history is uninteresting.
Second, we'll use London as an inspiration for research and writing projects. The class will be divided into eight groups, and each group will be assigned one of the periods below. Each group will be responsible for an oral presentation of at least 45 minutes length. These presentations will introduce the rest of the class to materials related to the period located through internet research.
Third, each of you will prepare a short paper on some aspect of his/her internet research. This paper will take the form of a personal website on the Roger Williams University server, or on www.homestead.com,
There may be some difficulties in setting up the computers in the lab with homestead software. A new compatible version is due out in a week or two. If it doesn't happen, we have a backup plan" we will post papers which are turned in electonically on this website. A handout on this will be distributed in a timely fashion, and additionally the instructions will be posted here. Working with web pages is not difficult, but it takes some practice.
Each of the buttons below connects this page to a page devoted to a particular period covered by one or more chapters in Rutherfurd's book. All of us are responsible for reading this book cover to cover, but at the level one normally uses for reading a work of popular fiction. A more thorough knoweldge of the book will be necessary for the period which is your particular responsibility.
Begin this exercise by reading the preface and first and last chapters of the book. Take note of the maps for Roman and Saxon London, Medieval and Tudor London, Georgian and Victorian London, and London's Villages and Suburbs, and also the geneological chart which outlines the interrelationships between the Ducket(Dogget) Bull, Silversleeves, Barnikel, Carpenter, Fleming, Merideth, and Penny families. The chapter list at the far left offers clues as to which characters will predominate in each section of the novel. With few exceptions (The Church of St. Lawrence Silversleeves is perhaps the most notable one), the places mentioned are real places
