Today – Page 9 – General History

Archers and Archery

English and Welsh bowmen (and King Henry V) at Agincourt / lookand learn.com

An archer was a soldier, usually professional, armed with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. It would be difficult to estimate how long this lethal weapon has been in use, but woodcuts exist of Scythian archers employed by the Romans. The bow was not long, because the Scythians fought on horseback, but the arrow seems to have been at least two and a half feet long from goosefeather guide to the iron arrowhead. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-01-14T06:49:04+00:00 January 14th, 2013|A History of North America, British History, English History, French History, German History, History of the Cinema, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

The Passive Voice & the use of the Double Negative

The passive voice is most popular with writers and speakers in the Anglo-Saxon world. It is rarely used in Latin countries. It is formed by inverting the subject and the object of a sentence, + the use of the verb TO BE + the past participle of the action verb.

Remember that every verb has its PAST and its PRESENT Participle:- (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-01-11T17:16:29+00:00 January 11th, 2013|English Language, Today|2 Comments

Monks, Friars & Orders

The founder of the Franciscan Order / ginagenis.wordpress.com

Men who renounced a worldly life in order to enter a monastery were many in medieval times. They are few and far between now, but the three most celebrated orders these religiously inclined young men joined, or attempted to join were the Benedictines, the Dominicans and the Franciscans. Each of these ‘sects’ was founded by a man who was not necessarily a saint in his youth, but whose foundations have lasted under those names for centuries. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-01-11T07:47:02+00:00 January 11th, 2013|History of the Cinema, Italian History, Today, World History|1 Comment

The Fuggers

Jacob Fugger / redroom.com

Now before the bloodhounds of Google get hot about the collar and assume I am using a form of Anglo-Saxon four-letter-word in the plural, give me time to assure them I am talking about a German family of bankers. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-01-05T12:14:20+00:00 January 5th, 2013|EU History, German History, Italian History, Jewish History, Philosophy, Spanish History, Today, World History|0 Comments

The Intelligence Services

The new SIS headquarters on the Embankment, London / en.wikipedia.org

Where dictators or democratically elected governments rule, they need organisations dedicated to the gathering and evaluation of information, mainly concerning the intentions of other states that may not have their best wishes at heart. These are the intelligence services, and they have been in active operation for much longer than many students think.

Some historians insist that it was Queen Elizabeth I, with her faithful Walsingham and his ring of spies, who was the first absolute ruler to insist on full intelligence gathering. This is patently untrue. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-01-03T13:31:37+00:00 January 3rd, 2013|A History of North America, British History, English History, French History, Greek History, History of the Cinema, Russian history, The Arab races, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

All-time mysteries: Roanoke Island & the Marie Celeste

Roanake: what happened to the settlers? / sonofthesouth.net

In Albemarle Sound off the northern coast of North Carolina there is an island which was the first English colony in North America. This is Roanoke, where a small group of settlers financed by Sir Walter Raleigh had tried to establish themselves in 1585. The local natives had had other ideas, and the beleaguered settlers were ‘rescued’ by Francis Drake, who had been engaged in one of his buccaneering expeditions in the Caribbean. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-01-02T10:39:57+00:00 January 2nd, 2013|A History of North America, British History, English History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Serfs

As villeins or servants of a medieval lord serfs were not actually slaves, though many writers of historical novels would have them so. Peasants they were, and by no means free. They were there to work the land of the lord (from which comes the more modern expression ‘landlord’). Serfs represented the lowest possible level of society. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-01-02T08:58:08+00:00 January 2nd, 2013|Austrian history, British History, English History, French History, German History, Philosophy, Russian history, Today, World History|0 Comments

Dr. Beeching & the British railways (1960s)

Dr. Beeching: not even Hitler could have done so much to change the face of Britain / mirror.co.uk

One of the greatest achievements of the Victorians took place in the home country, not abroad somewhere in the over-large Empire. A railway network second to none, not even the massive transcontinental railroads of the United States, sprang up linking every part of the United Kingdom. Just before the First War there were over 20,000 miles of railway in Britain.

As part of the great nationalization craze after the Second War under Clement Atlee, great names of railway companies vanished: GWR, LNER, LMS and other acronyms for rail companies were not to be heard again, though with the de-nationalisation at the end of the 20^th century, old companies were revived under new names. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-12-28T12:46:49+00:00 December 28th, 2012|A History of North America, British History, English History, Scottish history, Today|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

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