History of the Commonwealth of Nations
Mistakes made by leaders of powerful countries have been legion throughout history. Enormous losses in the human and animal races have been the result. It is arguable that had George V of England and Kaiser [...]
Great sauces: Hollandaise
Here is a marvellous sauce for purists in this matter. It goes with salmon, asparagus, almost any vegetable, entrées and most fish dishes. Now one may ask why I say ‘for purists in this [...]
Roman law, Roman religion & Romance Languages
The Romans believed in law, and tried to live by it, frequently failing when political necessities seemed more important, or integral to the purpose. Roman Law developed (in Rome) for around one hundred years before [...]
A teacher’s definition of Socialism
Everyone who bothered about such things was delighted that a new young teacher, female, distinguished at the university, liberal in outlook, and an active member of the local Socialist Party would start the new term [...]
The origin of legends
‘Legend has it . . .’ and most of Man’s legends are thousands of years old. The Dragon, for instance, has been around for centuries, in art and tales told by men. Dragons do not [...]
The Roman Legion
In the same way as the British Army is divided into divisions (usually 3 in an army), battalions (any number), companies (4 in a battalion) and platoons (4 in a company), each with a commander [...]
Great Sauces: Bolognese
Take chicken or calves’ liver or some raw minced beefsteak, one large onion, olive oil, one level tablespoon of white flour, one third of a litre of recently made stock, a bouquet garni consisting of [...]
The EU? Nothing but a big bully
In Greece the 1967 coup d’état drove King Constantine of the Hellenes and his family first to Rome, and then the comparatively Arcadian peace of London, where his British royal cousins took him in. He was [...]
Three Roman Emperors: Hadrian, Tiberius & Julian
A rather imaginative impression of Tiberius / biography.com Publius Aelius Hadrianus was born just seventy-six years after the birth of Christ, his birthplace Spain, or what was then the Iberian Peninsula. Member of [...]
History of the Cinema: the first ‘Casino Royale’
David Niven and a catapult / flixist.com During the 1960s, determined producers Charlie Feldman and Jerry Bresler set out on a saga that left even Hollywood astonished. They wanted to film the first [...]
Great Sauces: Béarnaise
This sauce goes marvellously well with any good cut of red meat, such as fillet, sirloin, entrecôte, rump and T-bone. But it is also superb with rich kinds of grilled (not boiled) fish, such as [...]
Julius Caesar & the Caesars
Julius / ancienthistory.about.com Gaius Julius Caesar was a successful general and apparently reluctant dictator. He was born into a patrician family around 100 BC and became Pontifex Maximus (a species of high priest) [...]
The Roman Civil Wars
These internal conflicts that tortured the last century of the Roman Republic lasted from 88 BC to 28 AD and led directly (some would say inevitably) to the institution of of unchallengable authority in one [...]
History of the Cinema: ‘The Wild Geese’
A scene with a crossbow from The Wild Geese / gamand fishmag.gov.uk In 1978 ‘the last gentleman producer’ Euan Lloyd made one of the funniest films on record. It was not meant to [...]
Romanticism
From the late 18th to the middle of the 19th century there was an almost radical revolt against simple reasoning, the sciences, all authority and most traditions, against order and discipline, which overcame (and to [...]
Sicily & the ‘Sicilian Vespers’
Sicily is the biggest island in the Mediterranean Sea, in the southernmost part of Italy, opposite ‘the toe of the boot’. The island is separated from the Calabrian mainland by the Strait of Messina, which [...]
The History and making of great Sauces: Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, however you like to spell it, is at least two hundred and fifty years old. It is said to have been invented by The Duc de Richelieu’s cook in 1736, while the good duke [...]
Recent Comments