Hi Everyone,
Here are a couple of links to an academic scandal that has emerged in the last few days:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/23/historian-orlando-figes-amazon-reviews-rivals
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/The-historian-the-savage-reviews-and-the-literary-whodunnit.htm
A hitherto well-respected and prominent historian admits to writing anonymous bad reviews of the work of other historians on the Amazon site, and nice ones about his own work! When suspicion is aroused, he first of all says it was his wife that wrote them, then eventually admits that he did.
What might this tell us about the world in which historians work? Before the WWW age, it would be very difficult to broadcast views so easily and so anonymously - do you think this raises any ethical issues and, if so, how should they be addressed?
