Professional music critics tend to bicker over the greatness or otherwise of these two composers, born as almost exact contempories, within months of each other in 1813. Wagner…
The Englishman abroad: aspects of the typical British tourist over two centuries
The Englishman abroad: aspects of the typical British tourist over two centuries In the 18th and 19th centuries, two kinds of Englishman ‘went abroad’, or left Britain for a…
Belligerent British India: the Anglo-Afghan Wars & the Anglo-Burmese Wars
It is a much-noted historical fact (not a notion) that countries seeking empires require violent methods to keep them – once formed. Great Britain has not been backward…
Disadvantages of being English and old
One of these (there are many others) is the question of communication if you are British and over fifty-five, with someone equally British but under thirty-five. Multitudes of…
The U.S.S.R.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (also known as the Soviet Union) used to occupy all the northern part of Asia, and a substantial part of Eastern Europe….
The University
It is an institute of higher education, responsible for taking students from the schools and giving them, through teaching, research and studies, an extended education which may lead…
Another Godless Christmas
It is the 17 December, 2011. In seven days virtually all the countries in the world will begin a few days off work (if they have any) on…
Spain: the Shadow of a Republic
Iñaki Urdangarin is the King and Queen of Spain’s son-in-law. This retired athlete married the Infanta Cristina, and they have four bright-looking children, three boys and a girl….
Ronald Reagan
The fortieth President of the United States was born in 1911. He grew up to be a college athlete and a handsome actor in Hollywood movies, westerns in…