HISTORY IN THE NEWS
A selection of the stories hitting the history headlines
Dutch publisher recalls Anne Frank betrayal book
A book claiming to have identified the person who betrayed Anne Frank to the Nazis in 1944 has been withdrawn from sale by its Dutch publisher after being extensively criticised by historians. In The Betrayal of Anne Frank, Rosemary Sullivan suggests that Arnold van den Bergh, a member of the Jewish Council, revealed the location of the Frank family in a bid to secure the safety of his own relatives. Doubts about evidence, and a critical report published by leading Dutch experts in March, led publisher Ambo Anthos to recall the book from shops.
Ancient Aboriginal remains to be reburied in Australia
The ancient remains of more than 100 Aboriginal people are set to be reburied in outback Australia following a ruling by the country’s government.
Among the remains are those of two individuals known as Mungo Lady and Mungo Man, found in 1968 and 1974 respectively and thought to date from around 42,000 years ago. They take their names from Lake Mungo which, along with the surrounding Willandra Lakes World Heritage region in south-east Australia, was the location of a string of such finds from the 1960s to the 1980s. Many remains were removed without the permission of the land’s traditional Aboriginal inhabitants, though those of Mungo Lady and Mungo Man were returned in 1992 and 2017.
Despite government assurances that the decision to rebury the remains in the area respects the wishes of its Indigenous communities, representatives of some of those groups – including the Barkindji nation, one of the region’s prominent peoples – argue that they were not properly consulted during the process.
Major UK history book prize announces 2022 shortlist
Works looking at people accused of witchcraft in 17th-century North America, the development of the idea of God in the western world, and the value of historical statues in the 21st century are among the books in contention for a major history award.
The shortlist for the Wolfson History Prize, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, was unveiled in April. Along with Malcolm Gaskill’s The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World, Francesca Stavrakopoulou’s God: An Anatomy and Alex von Tunzelmann’s Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues that Made History, nominated titles include The Ottomans by Marc David Baer, Going to Church in Medieval England by Nicholas Orme and Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588–1688 by Clare Jackson.
The winner of the £50,000 award from the Wolfson Foundation will be announced in June. Chair of the judges, historian David Cannadine, said: “This year’s shortlist once again showcases the diversity and vigour of history writing in the UK. The judges were impressed by the variety, originality and quality of research demonstrated by the six shortlisted books.”
British pop culture archive opens in Manchester
A major new collection celebrating postwar popular culture in Britain is opening in Manchester. The British Pop Archive, based at the John Rylands Library, will preserve an array of objects from the 1950s onwards, drawn from the worlds of television, music and film.
Although the collection will cover the whole of the UK, its inaugural exhibition – open from 19 May – will focus on its host city, charting the history of Coronation Street production company Granada as well as telling the stories of internationally renowned bands including Joy Division, New Order and The Smiths (whose frontman, Morrissey, is pictured in 1984). For more details about the exhibition and the new archive, see www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands.