History is taught to us as a narrative; usually as a very simplified one. Because the past is used as a way to understand events, they are often portrayed in a linear construction.
Each society uses history to justify itself, to enrich itself, and to be proud of itself.
But history is rarely neat or orderly. History is full of well-rounded people. And they are people that have foibles, vices and who make mistakes.
On the way to recording history, and even further, when preparing it for text books for our studies as children, many things are removed, or edited.
The rough little edges of the narrative, that would require footnotes to explain, or what might be contrary to what has later been decided to be proper all to often are omitted or hidden.
Part of this is an effort to sanitize and heorize the past to match our values. And, in some cases, to remove the humor or irony of an event. The past needs to be stately, to be heroic.
In the process, some absolutely fascinating glimpses into humanity are lost.
The euphemism of the “Ash heap” or “Dust bin” of history is an old one. And it references the act of outright editing out or minimizing a person or event in the annuals of history as pointless or worthless. That’s what is happened here and I hope to gleefully retrieve a few things.
And I chose “dustbin” because the usage of the common British word to my American ears has a slightly archaic or whimsical overtime.
So that’s what we do here: cheerfully dig through the things historians have thrown out and see what is missed.