Definition: a social democrat is a usually suscription-paying member of a left-wing, ex-communist or centre-left political party that combines basically socialist aims with constitutional methods, plus a general…
The Native Americans
Before bullying political correctness did its best to blow good language off the map, ‘Native Americans’ meant “Redskins”, “Red Indians”, occasionally (especially in Westerns) “them varmints!”, “the red…
The British manor house & the manorial system
An eager traveller can find a multitude of manor houses still standing in England. Most are occupied by families, many by the same family that has owned the…
Nancy Mitford on French XVIII doctors
“Presque tous les hommes meurent de leurs remèdes et non de leurs maladies” (Molière) Here is English authoress Nancy Mitford on seventeenth century French doctors:
Battles at Crècy and Poitiers; and The Jacquerie
The two armed conflicts took place respectively in 1346 and 1356. Ten years separate them, though were similar in tactics and spirit. Both were part of King…
The Gowrie House Affair: and the assassin’s knife
Breaking News: August 1600 (News agency reports) “Astonishing news is coming in from the city of Perth. The reports are confused, and confusing, but it appears that the…
The Great Millennium Mistake
I owe this to Simon Raven. In one of his works he speaks of the legend of Cape Tainarus in Greece. There is a dreaded cave there, dreaded…
Palmerston and Canning
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston was born in 1784. George Canning was born in 1770. Neither man saw much point in the other, and the difference of…
Queen Victoria & the European royal families
Nearly all the royal families in Europe – those remaining – are related to each other. This is not a coincidence, and it is worth considering, as many…
Two Wilhelms of Prussia
Prussia as a separate State merged, with many other Germanic kingdoms, grand dukedoms and principalities into a united Germany. But Prussia had a great deal of history beforehand….