As autumn approaches, it's time to turn to thoughts of darker days and spooky nights. To get me in the mood for the dying of the year, I picked up 'Ghosts of the British Museum: A True Story of Colonial Loot and Restless Objects' by Noah Angell.
Artefacts and Apparitions
'Ghosts of the British Museum' was born in a pub. Distracted from a friend's birthday celebrations by a group of museum employees swapping spooky stories, Angell becomes intrigued by the idea that the UK's most popular free tourist attraction may be the home to more than just ancient artifacts and dusty curators. Over the next seven years, Angell interviews British Museum staff past and present, acquiring stories of shadow-presences, photobombing spirits, temperature highs and lows, and doors that refuse to stay closed. What's the truth behind the ghostly goings on? Is the Museum really haunted by its charges?
Cheap Clickbait
I felt 'Ghosts of the British Museum' could have been much better written. The idea of connecting restless spirits with restless objects - stolen and keen to return home - is an excellent one. In the right hands I've no doubt that the narrative could've moved seamlessly from the initial click-bait promise of uncanny tales to the more serious topics of colonial history and restitution. Readers looking for entertaining chills could've found themselves encouraged to think more deeply about what such stories mean, whether the spooks are manifestations of the human guilt or genuine spirits that have been inadvertently snatched from distant lands. Sadly this is merely a shade of what might have been.
Polts and Politics
Few things annoy me more than people who point out that the emperor has no clothes, but then fail to question how the idiot ended up in charge. Angell, quite rightly, calls out the institution's failure to address its history, but seems to do so only in order to show how wonderful he is to have noticed. As a result, I felt he often came across as pompous, pretentious and snide and the book lacked thoughtfulness or insight. It sloshed around in the shallows when there was something far more interesting lurking in the depths. Angell's judgement of the British also appears driven by prejudice rather than knowledge. I am no expert on the subject (something that this book could have changed if more deeply researched and written perhaps), but I find it hard to believe that the poor, rural and working classes had much influence over whether the country stopped enslaving people and nicking their stuff. It felt like he fell into the trap of thinking that Britain is only the posh. It really isn't, any more than the US is just Hollywood stars and hillbillies.
Overall
'Ghosts of the British Museum' is trying to say some important things, but becomes inarticulate through self-righteous indignation. How we deal with our enslaving, colonial and acquisitive past needs to be properly and practically addressed (less mea culpa and more de facto, perhaps). But I didn't feel that this book helped with that. Ultimately, by trying to work on two levels, it seems to have failed to work on either. Ah well.
Now, what next..?
'Ghosts of the British Museum: A True Story of Colonial Loot and Restless Objects' by Noah Angell (No Angel?) was published by Monoray, an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group, part of Hachette UK, in 2024. I read the hardback, which I was surprised to find in a discount bookshop. I'm not surprised anymore. Will I never learn?
