Review: History Magazine

When I was sixteen, I went through an obsession with Jack the Ripper, and a friend of mine was good enough to lend me her copy of Patricia Cornwell's Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed.  At the time, it was excellent.  Someone had actually solved the Ripper murders.  Of course, within a year or so I found the harsh criticism Cornwell had received for her publication, and I realized that her explanation wasn't nearly as accurate as her book made it appear.  Cornwell concludes that an artist named Walter Sickert was the Ripper, based on an interview with the artist's son from the early twentieth century. 

Obviously, I picked the History Magazine article entitled "Walter Sickert: Capturing the Darker Side of Life" for this review.  After I found out that Cornwell's novel has been so heavily criticized, I gave up researching Sickert and started reading other fictionalized narratives about the Ripper.  The article promised, based on the magazine's subtitle, that it would provide a view of Sickert from a social perspective rather than a historical one.  Sure enough, the article mentioned his connections to the Ripper case, but the focus was turned on Sickert's life and contributions to the world of art.  It focused on his place in late Victorian society, the critical reactions to his artwork at the time, and his life at home, not the possibility of his being the Ripper killer.

In terms of classroom application, I think this magazine has a lot of potential.  It focuses on untold stories from history, filling in the gaps of cultural knowledge left open by popular opinion and interest.  Best of all, unlike Canadian Military, it requires little context to know exactly what the article is discussion.  History does an excellent job of situating events within popular cultural consciousness and then extrapolating on those ideas.  Personally, I find the tone a little too informal for good, academic criticism, but it's a great starting point for a lot of discussion.  A subscription to this magazine could inspire students to think critically and broadly about historical events, to examine all the different perspectives surrounding singular events.