What was Chartism? It was by far the most outstanding political movement inspired by genuine working men in Britain in the nineteenth century. There had been radical movements,…
Author: Dean Swift
‘Dean Swift’ is a pen name: the author has been a soldier; he has worked in sales, TV, the making of films, as a teacher of English and history and a journalist. He is married with three grown-up children. They live in Spain.
The ‘Showa’ Restoration (Japan)
The Showa Restoration . The word showa means ‘Enlightened Peace’ in English. It was chosen as a ‘reign name’ by the Emperor Hirohito. It is hard not to…
The Bard in the Bible
The Bard in the Bible. Here is a mystery for Shakespeare fans and inquisitive youngsters who know what the King James Version of the Bible is. Most of…
Ferdinand (Fernando) VII of Spain
Ferdinand (Fernando) VII. With a few notable exceptions Spain, like Britain, has not always been fortunate in its kings. Fernando the Seventh of that name stands out as…
Oh dear, these history books . . .
Oh dear, these history books. An online bookseller I deal with kindly sent me a copy of a ‘book of history’ published in the United States, featuring long…
The battle of Tannenberg
The battle of Tannenberg. In one of the better Hollywood attempts to re-produce the Second War on celluloid, The Night of the Generals had Peter O’Toole at his…
The Wittelsbach Dynasty
The Wittelsbach Dynasty. This once-regal Bavarian family can trace their ancestry, like so many other grand families back to the Emperor Charlemagne, but more direct ancestry can be…
The end of the Terror and of Robespierre
The end of the Terror and of Robespierre. On 8 Thermidor (26 July) 1794, Robespierre the absolute leader of the French Revolution spoke in an unusually tactless manner…
The Consulate
The Consulate. In this piece I am not writing about consulates – which are offices maintained by countries in other countries, where business is done and, occasionally, the…
The 21 Demands (of Japan)
The 21 Demands (of Japan). In 1915 Japan came up with the odd idea of trying to make the whole of China a protectorate – a protectorate of…