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

[letterbthe.livejournal.com]

Oh, great question, Skyring. I'd allocate one of the volunteers to solving historical missing persons cases - like the Glenn Miller one you already mentioned, but I was thinking of what REALLY happened to the Lindbergh baby? And missing Lord Lucan? And Shergar? (why stop with people, after all!). And the female aviator - Amy something - who went missing en route round the world (that could be tricky to sort out though, a nice challenge for your hero!). Or did Anastasia really survive the shooting of the Romanovs? With careful research as to exactly when to go back to, one person could do a lot of those in a month.

And of course I'm not going to mention the obvious choice - Easter, a couple of thousand years ago. Who was the man on the cross in between the two robbers, and what really happened outside his tomb three days later? And where did he go after that?