Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The book I bought today...

It's my birthday, so as a treat to myself I bought a book. The book I chose, after much deliberation was "The Illustrated 9/11 Commission Report". I couldn't believe it when I saw it but it's basically a graphic novel (what we used to call comic books) which takes the original "The 9/11 Commission Report" and makes a non-fiction Government report come alive.

I can't deny I mocked the idea this morning when I mentioned it to people, but having taken the time to sit down with it I have to say it's a brilliant and utterly engaging account of probably the most significant historical event in contemporary history.

Given the recent comments from historians such as David Starkey regarding the over-emphasis in schools of technique at the expense of knowledge about historical events, perhaps graphical novels could be used as means of engaging pupils with the event narratives within history?

3 comments:

Croydonian said...

Happy Birthday Mr Dizz.

Way back lost in the mists of time, I had a cartoon bible, so I can claim that I *have* read the bible, if challenged....

I'm not big on cartoons / graphic novels, but Alan Moore's 'Watchmen' is a triumph.

The Daily Pundit said...

All the best Dizzy. It's downhill all the way from here on in.

Monty said...

Just before midnight... Happy Birthday Dizzy! Hope you had a great day.