References

List of links to History Boys (French Scene)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0feNVUwQA8U This relates to one of the songs. Posner sings it. It was sung originally by Édith Piaf. It was released in 1947. The song’s title can be translated as “Life in Rosy Hues” or “Life Through Rose-Tinted Glasses”; its literal meaning is “Life in Pink. Various authors have covered it such as Louis Armstrong, Grace Jones and Louis Gugleilmi. It is weird for a boy to be singing it becuase it is sung in a high pitch.

Things referred to in p22-p40 in The History Boys

P23 Catcher in the Rye-The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. It was originally published for adults but it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage angst and alienation.

P23 Auden- Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was an Anglo-American poet, best known for love poems such as “Funeral Blues,” poems on political, social, cultural, religious and psychological themes.

P24 Wilfred Owen-Wilfred Owen was an English poet and soldier and later became one of the leading poets of the First World War.

P26 Siegfried Sassoon- Siegfried Sassoon was an English poet, writer, and soldier. He was awarded for bravery on the Western Front and became another leading poet of the First World War.

Rembrandt- Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is considered, amongst others, one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art and the most important in Dutch history.

President Roosevelt- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States.

Stevie Smith- “Not waving but drowning”(Poem)

Nobody heard him, the dead man,

But still he lay moaning:

I was much further out than you thought

And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking

And now he’s dead

It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,

They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always

(Still the dead one lay moaning)

I was much too far out all my life

And not waving but drowning.

Stalin- Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Holding the post of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was effectively the dictator of the state.

Paul Henreid- Paul Henreid was an Austrian-born American actor and film director, best remembered for playing Jeremiah Durrance opposite Bette Davis in Now, Voyager, and Victor Laszlo opposite Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.

Bette Davis- Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress. She was regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was reputed for her performances in a range of film genres although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas.

Richard Rogers – was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and 34 broadways, he also composed music for television shows and films. Born into a prosperous German Jewish family – relates to Posner as he is Jewish, mentioned in this part of the story because this is a part about the Holocaust.

Wittgenstein – Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. His paternal grandfather was Jewish and his maternal grandfather was a Bohemian Jew.

Jean-Paul Sartre – was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. When he was twelve he moved to La Rochelle and was frequently bullied. Drafted into the French army 1939, captured by German troops in 1940, spent nine months as a prisoner of war in Nancy, France and then Stalag XII-D.

Gracie Fields, “Sing As We Go” – doesn’t really relate to the theme of this part of the book (the Holocaust)

Dissolution of the Monasteries – The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded Catholic monasteries.

Gracie Fields was an English actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall. She links to the play because she performed for the soldiers in World War 2 which is the same time as the holocaust.

Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, songwriter, actress, director, and filmmaker. She links to the history boys because she is Jewish and her family emigrated from places affected by World War 2.

Armistice- An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, since it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the Latin arma, meaning weapons and stadium, meaning a stopping. This links because there is a war between Irwin and Hector. It also links to the holocaust (World War 2.)

The treaty of Versailles – big part of World War 2 so links to the Holocaust.

Weimar republic – The Weimar Republic was the federal republic and semi-presidential representative democracy established in 1919 in Germany to replace the German Empire. Relates to the Holocaust (World War 2.)

Wren – Hawksmoor:

Nicholas Hawksmoor- was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. He made six of the London churches.

Christopher Wren – worked with Nicholas Hawksmoor, principal architect of his time. He helped design six of the London churches.