The Victorian Hero

"The Victorian Hero: Explorers and Exploration in the British Empire 1830 - 1914", a 178 page tome which I wrote as my honors thesis in history at Wesleyan University, where it received the distinction of High Honors, and was awarded the Robins Prize for excellence in European History. (For anyone wondering, the Robins Prize for excellence in European History comes with $80 dollars, a strangely specific sum that will always make me laugh)

Comprised largely of archival research done at the British Library in London and the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, this work solidified a confidence in my abilities and passion for archival/historical research, as well as an understanding that I never wanted to write 178 pages again and needed to find other mediums in which to do this work. Enter documentary film: the new love of my life.

“The Victorian Hero” examines imperialist exploration of Asia and Africa during the Victorian period, particularly focusing on key celebrity explorers of the era like Alexander Burnes, Richard Burton, and Francis Younghusband. If you think exploration is sexy, so did Brits of the 1800s, and this paper looks into why that is (and why that’s f-ed up)

If you want to read it, or skim it and tell me you read it, I’ve made it available here.

Or you could not read it at all, which is what the entire student body of Wesleyan does (and of which I’m reminded each month via needlessly cruel automated email)