In hindsight, which was all they had in those days...

[skyring]

Something Bookczuk posted recently made me think. A novel about a contemporary Australian going back in time to Civil War Charleston. Something like that wonderful novel, "The Door Back", but a bit "spikier" and maybe funnier.

Well, I've been thinking. There's a ton of material I could use. Like Connie Willis, I could have a world where time travel is cheap, clean, easy and relatively safe. Have a team of explorers mining the past. String some interesting anecdotes together.

My scenario is something like this. Time travel has just been discovered and the inventor wants to investigate the more interesting periods and events of the past. He's only got a half-dozen volunteers and a month to do it in.

So where does he send his researchers?

The bombardment of Fort Sumter, of course - that goes without saying. And I like the idea of a mini-skirted Aussie sheila trying to covertly enter the Texas Book Repository to film a pivotal and tragic moment in history.

Any other times and places you'd like to see fashion gaffes committed?

Comments

[skyring.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking of historical mysteries, rather than events where the facts are well-known. Sending someone back to scan the contents of some of the ancient libraries, record the missing bits of the Bayeux Tapestry and so on.

Of course, there are events that are interesting in themselves. Babe Ruth's called strike, for example, or Mallory and Irvine - did they reach the top?