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….
Arturo eyes Andalucía
Arturo Pérez-Reverte is one of the very best writers of modern Castilian prose, but then he is also more than capable of writing in the purest seventeenth century…
Rich in history: the Rothschilds
Whole books have been published about this world-famous banking family. Some of the authors have indulged in hagiography, others have been perhaps unconsciously anti-Semitic. The latter view is…
Chief Khans of the Mongol Empire
While Europe was littered with principalities and petty kingdoms headed by princes and kings with ambitions beyond their resources; while both American sub-continents were spacious open homes for…
Great War Commanders: Hans von Seeckt: who?
I am not being frivolous. If you were to ask even German or Austrian nationals of below a certain age, say seventy, who Hans von Seeckt was, you…
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…
Marx, Lenin and the ‘lumpenproletariat’
These days they are the underclass, that vast army of uneducated, unemployable, often criminally inclined, very often obese, more than often drugged people of any age found in…
Great War Commanders: Chester W. Nimitz
Chester William Nimitz was born in the United Statesin 1885. He chose the US Navy as a career and rose rapidly. He was chosen personally by President F.D….
Tory, Conservative; Whig, Liberal
The term ‘party’ for a political group has been around in Britain for centuries. The Tory Party was a political group that was spoken of in the 1680s….
Would you believe it? The ‘Know-Nothings’
We already know the origins of the rising US political party calling themselves ‘The Tea Party’. Tea-loaded ships sailing from Britain in 1773 threatened other tea importers with…