Dean Swift

The sea battle of Trafalgar

Artist’s impression of part of the Battle of Trafalgar / britishbattles.com

There is a running fight, not unlike the battle of Trafalgar itself, between Spanish, British and French historians, which has continued without pause since 1805. Friendships which should have been for life have been broken because of this eminently historical conflict on the high seas. I prefer to examine the views of American historians, who should have no axe to grind, as 1805 happened a long time before US influence dominated, or at least tried to dominate the world. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-20T09:12:20+00:00 December 20th, 2012|British History, English History, French History, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments

Special Note to followers of General-History

From today we shall take a short break, for travel, research and the Christmas holidays. Apart from the occasional Humour or ‘Quis?’ posts which will appear during the break, G-H has 44 Categories, including historical subjects, Humour, Philosophy, Today and the English Language. 398 posts have been published, and we have also published 200 Comments of all kinds, with replies to some written by Dean Swift or Christian. There is enough to read or study for many, many days, and we will start again early in the New Year.

Very best wishes, a Happy Christmas and an educational New Year to our thousands of visitors.

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-12T09:23:11+00:00 December 12th, 2012|English Language, Today, World History|1 Comment

Humour on Tuesday

Here is a little story that some might find a bit racist, but these jokes are or are not racist according to one’s nationality. I like this joke for its subtlety: (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-11T10:01:03+00:00 December 11th, 2012|English Language, Humour|0 Comments

Historians Polybius, Sallust, Seneca, Suetonius & Tacitus

POLYBIUS (204 – 122 BC) had the good luck (from the intellectual point of view) to be a historian during the rise of Rome after the 2^nd Punic War. He was a Greek of noble blood not without political importance, but he was taken toRome with several other Greeks as hostages. This happened after the Roman intervention in Athens by Aemilius Paullus and others. Polybius formed a circle of clever fellows around his captor who became his mentor. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-10T10:47:36+00:00 December 10th, 2012|Greek History, History of Rome, Italian History, Spanish History, World History|0 Comments

The end of the British Empire and imperialism

The_British_Empire

It is barely seventy-two years since a quarter of the human race lived, toiled, danced and finally died under the Union Jack. It is a very short time in terms of the history of the world, but in that time the British view of themselves, and their nation’s place in that world has altered, perhaps more radically than ever before. No other country has experienced a sudden and dramatic convulsion in its own outlook – no, not even terrible wars, occupation, subjection beneath the heel of an aggressive foreign invader, however awesome their effect, can produce a change in national philosophy as total as that undergone by the British since 1939. While Rome took centuries to crumble, the British Empire vanished almost overnight. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2017-02-06T14:28:02+00:00 December 7th, 2012|A History of North America, African History, British History, English History, German History, History of India, History of New Zealand, Philosophy, Today, World History|0 Comments

Reginald Pole (easy dates 1500 – 1558)

Reginald Pole / blogdelpadrefortea.blogspot.com

Please note that this important character from history had the plain surname of Pole. His name is not De la Pole – quite a different family*. Our subject became a Cardinal and later Archbishop of Canterbury, but through his mother (the Countess of Salisbury) he had a Yorkist claim to the throne of England. Being an intelligent man, he did not press this claim, or even mention it, though it must have passed through his mind on certain occasions. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-07T11:11:32+00:00 December 7th, 2012|English History, World History|0 Comments

Frederick (the Great) of Prussia

He was born in 1740, the son of Frederick William I and his queen, Sophia Dorothea, a daughter of George I of Great Britain. As a boy he was bullied by his father, who thought nothing of whipping the child in front of shocked servants. His father was known is royal circles as ‘the royal drill-sergeant’, and with reason. Frederick William was a strict religionist, violent-tempered, notorious for his malreatment not only of his son but for women and servants too. It is not surprising that that the boy grew up to be peculiar. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-05T11:18:18+00:00 December 5th, 2012|Austrian history, German History, World History|0 Comments

The Pizarro brothers and Perú

Gonzalo, another Pizarro brother / year8ttincas.wikispaces.com

Francisco Pizarro was born in 1475 in Extremadura in western Spain, when that country was even more powerful than France. He became a conquistador and an important explorer. He started the adventures that took him half way round ther world by joining Vasco Nuñez de Balboa’s expedition across what is now Panama, eventually discovering the Pacific in 1513. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-04T11:39:29+00:00 December 4th, 2012|History of the Cinema, South American History, Spanish History|0 Comments

Two Dukes of Burgundy: Philip the Bold & Philip the Good

Our first Duke of Burgundy was born in 1342, a son of John ‘the Good’. There were so many dukes of this region of France that the theory that each earned a nickname because it was thus easier to identify each one is probably right. As a youth he fought at Poictiers against the English, was captured along with his father, and ransomed. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-03T10:05:59+00:00 December 3rd, 2012|English History, French History, World History|0 Comments

The Pony Express

Pony Express: right across the United States / articles.latimes.com

Though it lasted only two romantic and dangerous years, the Pony Express lived up to its name. It was horse-borne mail delivery, operated by the Missouri freight company Russell, Majors and Waddell and founded in 1860. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-11-30T13:18:41+00:00 November 30th, 2012|A History of North America, US History|0 Comments

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