How useful is the source Dark Palace by Frank Moorhouse to a historian studying the failure of the League of Nations.
To determine whether or not the source, Dark Palace, is useful to a historian, the source perspective, interpretation, information, reliability and relevance to the depth study must be taken into account. Dark Palace by Frank Moorhouse is a historical fiction novel about a lady named Edith, who works for the secretariat within the League of Nations, in search of her identity as her marriage and the League begin to crumble before her eyes. Dark Palace is set between 1931 and the creation of the United Nations, in 1945. This time period saw the decline of the Leagues confidence and influence and thus, its failure. The characters in the source frequently refer to events involving the League as the characters work for, or are indirectly connected to the League and are affected by these events.
American League (owners?), 2/11/14 (LOC)
The League of Nations: A Pictorial Summary, Geneva...
Anachronous map of the world between 1920 and 1945...The League itself plays an important role in the source as it is used as a means of telling the story. The substantial events that occur in the novel are all factual and most insubstantial events are also factual or inspired from official documents. This source is relevant to a historian studying the failure of the League of Nations because of the time period in which it was set, the involvement of the League in the novel, the frequent use of factual information and the informal perspective on the League by the characters.
The perspective and interpretation of the source, Dark Palace, provides a historian with an insight to the work and social conditions within the League. The source is from a first and third person perspective of a character working for the League. The perspective of the characters in the novel as...