Why we talk history when we come to the History Café
Jon and Penelope have been revisiting key moments in history for the last six years. They approach the works of other historians with an open mind. Only after immersing themselves in the complexities of each period and asking each other common sense questions have they begun to propose a series of reinterpretations.
Who we are
Jon Rosebank
Jon took the top first for his year in Modern History at Oxford, scoring alphas in all his papers. He was quickly elected Fellow of New College, where he completed his D.Phil on English history, leaving five years later for the BBC. There he worked on history series, starting with Michael Wood and Christopher Frayling and becoming Executive Producer and Editor. He wrote, directed and produced many series for BBC television and later Channel 4, telling history stories from Neolithic archeology to trawling on the North Sea. In 1998 Jon left television to teach history. During the time he was head of department, over 90% opted for history at GCSE and over 40% at A-level. Departmental results were 20% above the school average. After 10 years Jon left teaching intending finally to give time to his own writing and TV work. A colleague wrote at the time, ‘the man is a whirlwind. His imagination and creativity are simply extraordinary.’
Author of ‘GN Clark and the Oxford History School. Hidden origins of 1066 And All That’ (English Historical Review 2020) and Partisan Politics. Looking for consensus in 18th century towns (University of Exeter Press 2021). Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Penelope Middelboe
Penelope is the author of two history books, We Shall Never Surrender (Macmillan 2011) and Edith Olivier from her journals: 1924-48 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1989). She was Script and Series Editor on animated films aimed at making cultural heritage accessible for HBO, BBC and S4C/Channel 4. Her series won eight EMMYs. Canterbury Tales was nominated for an Oscar. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which she co-wrote, won a BAFTA. Shakespeare – the Animated Tales and The Miracle Maker on the life of Jesus are both still widely used in schools.
From 2007 Penelope worked with the Shakespeare Schools Foundation (SSF) which uses performing Shakespeare in professional theatres to give young people a sense of self-worth. She became CEO in 2011 and in 2014 SSF reached 35,000 9-18 year olds across the UK. Penelope read history at Bristol and left SSF in 2014 to explore her own writing once again.