On a stifling June day in Babylon, 2334 years ago, Alexander of Macedon died. He had been to a party the night before, but left well before the…
Every head in the trough
Mariano Rajoy recently promised a long list of reforms that he will implement, he says, when he becomes President of the Government. Most thinking Spaniards hope he is…
The Korean War 1950-1953
All wars are bloody, some are found to be unnecessary after the event. The Great War (1914 – 18) was unnecessary and could have been avoided, if the…
Henry II and Thomas Becket
“Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?” Henry II, King of England (1133 – 89) succeeded King Stephen in 1154. Henry was not Stephen’s son, but took…
Encounters of the socialist kind
Since earning the right to, I used to vote if I voted at all, for the Labour Party. I was young and thoughtful, and Fabian ideas seemed correct…
Sir Winston Churchill
In other sections of this history blog can be found brief lives of Franklin Roosevelt (All American Presidents) and Joseph Stalin. Joined by Churchill at a number of…
Three English medieval mafiosi
All three descended from Norman knights who accompanied the bastard Duke of Normandy in the successful invasion of England. Once established as William I (The Conquerer), the new…
Speaking of Cuts
This Spanish government is fond of making cuts. They have cut deeply into civil servants’ monthly wage packet, and frozen older people’s pension. But, strange to speak, they…
Unemployed youth in Spain
Spain’s President of the Government, was recently loose (but sadly not lost) in China trying to sell a chunk of Spain’s debt to the canny Chinese. This must…
Oxford and Cambridge: The future depends on Independence
In a country like the United Kingdom where there are already far too many universities with few and fewer applicants, the names Oxford (founded c. 1150) and Cambridge…