Margaret Jones
Margaret C. Jones
I 'm a freelance writer and retired university teacher, with broad experience of work in the United States. I gained my PhD in American Studies (Literature, History, Political Science) from Purdue University in 1989. My study of US women radicals, Heretics and Hellraisers, was published in 1993 with the University of Texas Press.
Besides academic work, I have written entries for reference books (Time Out Guide to the South West, Penguin Book of Modern Quotations) and done journalism for local newspapers here in the UK.
I love doing archive research, avidly watch every sort of TV documentary in my spare time, and am hopelessly addicted to surfing the internet. My other interests in life are campaigning, fundraising, and winning arguments.
From living for eight years in Egypt, writing and traveling around the Middle East, I developed a strong interest in the region's history, and in people's everyday lives and customs there. I enjoy writing about other cultures, their traditions and customs, about ideas, and about international affairs. I also like sometimes to write about practical things I know about: fundraising, camping in winter, or the cheapest way to get to Turkey.
Latest Articles
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Gunter Grass: Upsetting Israel
Around Gunter Grass' recent poem about Israel, the storm continues to rage. In the general excitement, what the poem actually says has tended to get lost.
Apr 11, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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Animals: A Measure of Our Humanity
How a society treats its animals gives an idea of how it will deal with its human members. Animal rights began with those who cared about human rights too.
Apr 5, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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UK Immigrants We Couldn't Do Without
Despite an often hostile press, those foreigners have kept on coming. Some are now so 'British' in our eyes, we forget they were ever immigrants at all ...
Apr 4, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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Did Proverbs Help Topple an Egyptian President?
Egyptian Arabic is full of wit and wisdom, as shown in the slogans of last year's Arab Spring. Here are a few of those - and some witty and wise proverbs.
Mar 31, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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What Did Feminism Ever Do For Us?
Quite a lot actually; including some achievements that in the UK we now take for granted. (Meanwhile, a new generation is taking up the cause.)
Feb 14, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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Pigs R Us?
Pigs in fiction can be brave, sexy, selfish, - cute, even. Do we really share traits in common with pigs? Or are we just projecting our own human nature?
Jan 29, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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Frampton on Severn: a Walk on the Wild Side
Nestled between wide lakes and a majestic river, behind its neat facade this historic village hides a shaggy wildness.
Jan 21, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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Dickens' Rebel Woman
In this Dickens anniversary year, a look at a heroic woman in Dickens who is NOT an Angel in the House, and nothing at all like Little Nell.
Jan 18, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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Do Americans Talk Shakespeare?
We often focus on the innovations in American English (much mocked in Britain), while overlooking words surviving from the language of Shakespeare's time.
Jan 8, 2012
- Margaret Jones
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How Californians Tackled the Great Depression
In the Depression years of the 1930s, ingenious Californians invented schemes to help fellow citizens get by. Are there lessons here for our own times?
Dec 29, 2011
- Margaret Jones
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