A Fresh Way to Experience History

This was one of those ideas that makes you feel like an idiot because you didn't think of it first. A fellow by the name of Bill Lamin found his grandfather's World War I correspondence and came up with a brilliant idea to share it. Mr. Lamin started a blog. Or, rather his grandfather did.

According to his blogspot profile, William Henry Bonser Lamin was born in 1887 and is a member of the Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment. "Harry" Lamin's letters are published on his blog 90 years, to the day, after they were written. Much like his anxious family at home, we don't know when the next letter will be published or if most recent one is his last. Will he make it through "the war to end all wars" or will he add to the awful statistics of that brutal conflict? We'll just have to wait.

Diaries and letters are my favorite way to experience history, but this format adds another element. The wait. Time has a way of magnifying tension that cannot be felt in any other way. There's no skipping ahead in real life! So, we must wait and hope for the next letter.

There is also another aspect: context. You can experience the seasons and holidays right along with Harry. Reading about the cold and snow means a little more in January than it would in June. But even if you're half way around the world you still experience Christmas and New Years at the same time he is.

So, go get to know Harry Lamin at http://www.wwar1.blogspot.com/ before it's too late!