Karen Racine

Dr Karen Racine (History, University of Guelph, Canada) will be a visiting research fellow at LAC for the Michealmas term 2018.  Her book project is titled “Diplomats of a Dying Empire: The Spanish Embassy in London and Spanish American Independence, 1808-1833."  It emphasizes the ways in which Embassy personnel used soft power methods to improve Spain’s public image and bolster its political case against the breakaway Americans. Tactics included: financial support for local charities, publishing literature in translation, donations to museums and libraries, public celebrations of national holidays,planting favorable press stories, joining local scientific associations etc.   She will be undertaking research at the Bodleian Library, the Codrington Library, the British Library, the National Archives, and several other smaller collections.