History Geek is a collage of ephemera, found photographs, original research, reviews and personal tales of historical misadventure.
Many posts featured on this blog focus on original items from my own collection and as such many of these are previously unpublished. To me, they are unique personal windows into the past and it is always such a shame when they are stripped of their context and abandoned. I like to use these items as a starting point – and through research discover and share the stories that they can tell. Other times I just like to share historical yarns, often that I’ve stumbled across by chance while researching something else.
My approach to history is not to offer comprehensive academic analysis. There are much more qualified people already doing that. My interest in history lies not so much in who was right and who was wrong but in what it was like to be there – particularly the perspectives of everyday people.
As a New Zealander it is natural that many of my musings will be from an Antipodean perspective but my feet, mind and collecting habits take me to many other places too so you’ll sometimes see that reflected here as well.
If something sparks the interest of a reader then I urge them to do their own research on the subject and where possible I will recommend further reading or viewing. If you would like to images from my collection more regularly, visit my History Geek Facebook page. If you have a publishing request or would like to get in touch for any other reason please fire me a message through the contact form.
It is my sincere hope that visitors to this little corner of the internet will find something of interest.
I love history. I wish more people would inspire their children to learn more of it, the schools merely skim over the events.
Completely agree. The kind of history taught at schools can sometimes be dry and difficult to relate to. I think there is a lot that can be done to make history a lot more accessible both to children and the wider public.
All I can remember in history class is memorizing dates.
G/day from Darwin Au expat Timaru Heeney.
History is people. Academics tend to forget this … people, not dates.
G’day from Melbourne ! Love history in general, and occasional blog on military history. I look forward to reading your blog.
Great to have a history loving follower in Melbourne! I’ve always wanted to visit your city to see where some of the characters from the New Zealand goldfields first earned their reputations.
Just delighted to find this site! I look forward to enjoying all of the postings that are put up here.
Thank you and welcome!