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….
Category: History of the Cinema
The twelve basic tenses in English (British or American)
Present: I work = I work hard all day Past: I worked = I worked hard all last year. Future: I will work = I will…
Powerful women in history: the Empress Dowager Cixi
She was the real ruler in China from 1861 – 1908. She was intelligent, literate, well able to express herself, and able in all matters. She did not…
Disasters waiting to happen: Marcus Licinius Crassus
Crassus was not the first man to combine business with politics and, through lack of foresight, or because he was too proud to think, come a terrible cropper….
Disasters waiting to happen: General Gordon
Charles George Gordon was born in 1833. When his father discovered that the boy was wilful, obstinate, brave, selfish and over-fond of himself, he decided to send…
Disasters waiting to happen: Nuffield
William Richard Morris Nuffield started off well, but ended as the man who almost singlehandedly destroyed the British car industry. I don’t suppose this was his intention,…
Humour: tall tales
Paul Johnson tells us that when General de Gaulle at last decided to retire to his small chateau at Colombey-les-deux-Églises, he and his wife threw a small…
Great War Commanders: General Allenby
Allenby’s chief claim to fame, though he would not have liked my reminding him of it, was that for a time he was Laurence of Arabia’s commanding officer….
What were ‘The Roaring Twenties’?
The evocative phrase comes from America, of course, and refers to a period of unparalleled prosperity (for some). Industrial production doubled. American politicians had almost finished their self-imposed…
Seven (magnificent) Westerns
The genre started right at the beginning of movie making with The Great Train Robbery, a silent Western. These mostly imaginary films had a great run right through…