Aerial theatre

1920s, 1930s, Aerial theatre, Conferences and talks

Strength in numbers

In July I’ll be at this year’s Australian Historical Association conference, which is being hosted in Ballarat by Federation University Australia. I’m pushing my aerial theatre project along with a talk entitled ‘The RAF versus the Wottnotts: Hendon’s imaginary wars, 1920-1937’: The Royal Air Force (RAF) Pageants held between 1920 and 1937 at Hendon in […]

1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, Aerial theatre, Australia, Conferences and talks

Aviation cultures and aerial theatre

In December I’ll be giving a talk at the Aviation Cultures Mk. II: Technology, Culture, Heritage conference at the University of Sydney, entitled ‘Comparing Hendon: aerial theatre in context’. Here’s the abstract: The RAF Pageants held between 1920 and 1937 at Hendon in north London were an annual series of air shows, in which military

1910s, Aerial theatre, Periodicals, Phantom airships, mystery aeroplanes, and other panics, Publications

The joy of six

I’m very pleased to announce that the Journal of British Studies has accepted my article, ‘The phantom airship panic of 1913: imagining aerial warfare in Britain before the Great War’, for publication. This is exciting for a number of reasons. Naturally, one reason is because it’s another peer-reviewed article (number six, by my count). That’s

1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Academia, Aerial theatre, Before 1900, Conferences and talks, Phantom airships, mystery aeroplanes, and other panics, Videos

Seminar: ‘Staging the aerial theatre’

Last Friday, 3 October 2014, I gave the Humanities Research Seminar at the University of New England on the topic of ‘Staging the aerial theatre: Britishness and airmindedness in the 20th century’ (kindly introduced by Nathan Wise), in which I expanded upon my ideas for a research project involving aviation spectacle. You can watch the

1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Academia, Aerial theatre, After 1950, Books, Grants, Phantom airships, mystery aeroplanes, and other panics

Course correction

With my book’s publication imminent and my return to the job market beginning to, if not loom, then at least creep up, it’s time to think about what’s next in terms of a research programme. I had been thinking of something to do with mystery aircraft, and indeed my next small research project, on scares

1900s, 1910s, Aerial theatre, Before 1900, Books, Periodicals, Phantom airships, mystery aeroplanes, and other panics, Plays

The aerial theatre

Under the terms of an agreement made in 1909 between the three main British aviation bodies, the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain concentrated on ‘the scientific phases of the movement’, the Aero Club of the United Kingdom was responsible for ‘sporting and social aspects’, and the Aerial League of the British Empire, the one I’m

1930s, Aerial theatre, Air defence, Australia, Civil defence, Periodicals, Phantom airships, mystery aeroplanes, and other panics

Anxious nation? — I

At about 5.20pm on Friday, 29 July 1938, hundreds of people saw a mysterious aeroplane diving from high over Hobart. According to Pegasus, the Hobart Mercury‘s aviation correspondent, A large crowd collected near the corner of Liverpool and Murray streets, and traffic was impeded. The machine descended to a comparatively low level, yet not low

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