Childrens experiences and responses to war in the nineteenth century

What we can learn about war from the writing of child soldiers in the nineteenth century will be explored in a BBC Radio 3 Essay on Thursday 22 March with Dr Emma Butcher from our School of Arts.

Emma, who is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, will be exploring children’s historical accounts of war and whether they teach us a new, alternative military history.

The chance to make the programme is one of the many opportunities she has to work with the media as part of the New Generation Thinkers scheme, a joint initiative run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

“My experience on the scheme has been fantastic,” says Emma. “I have broadcast various radio programmes, written for popular magazines and newspapers, and am currently working on a trade book on the history of children and war.” 

The Essay will focus on child writers during The Battle of Trafalgar and the childhood writings of the Brontë family, who were avid readers of newspaper accounts of battles and memoirs of soldiers