Viewed on a timeline, the events and the people of history seem to grow ever more distant as the past slips away from a “modern” world that is constantly being made anew. For us, it is axiomatic that “this time it’s different”, because we are always covering new ground, always leaving the past further behind us.
But the truth is that we have a non-linear relationship with the past, both with our own personal stories and with history more generally. There are moments when a history that had seemed finished and packed away suddenly moves into our vicinity, grabs us by the shoulders and starts to speak to us. Right now, this is happening with the 19th century.
