Post-war history of Gdansk
This article takes you on a quick tour through the streets and post-war history of Gdansk, a city where "the Second World War began".
Saturday May 22, 2004  #

Filming D-Day
Although the article is chiefly concerned with Canada, this is a multinational skim through the filming of the D-Day landings (the actual ones, not later recreations).
Saturday May 22, 2004  #

Pigeons Bombing Russia?
Yes, somebody once planned to train pigeons to drop explosives or biological weapons on Moscow during the Cold War. No, I’m not giving this ludicrous idea any further coverage...
Saturday May 22, 2004  #

Free Information from Burke's Peerage & Gentry
Burke's Peerage & Gentry have expanded their free content on the royal lineages of Britain to cover the period 827 – 1837 in England and 844 to 1837 in Scotland. For each monarch you can now easily find their titles and date of accession, children and other relations, as well as familiarising yourself with the content of Burke's Peerage & Gentry. Read it here.
Saturday May 15, 2004  #

Imperial Reading
As the title of Robert Fisk's article - Racism & Torture as Entertainment: From Hollywood to Abu Ghraib – suggests, it's focused on very recent events. However, for the first third he discusses an example of British literature from the late-Victorian period, an adventure story written with a full blown right wing imperial mindset. Quite how common this genre was is unclear, but it's far from unique and, as discussions of the British Empire are back in vogue, I felt Fisk's article worth mentioning. I make no comment on the rest of the article, which the non-politically inclined should avoid.
Saturday May 15, 2004  #

Churchill: Forging an Alliance for Freedom
Allen Packwood's excellent lecture on Churchill examines many of the man's apparent contradictions while arguing that a thread of core belief ran throughout his life. Read it here.
Saturday May 15, 2004  #

The Garhwal Rifles
The Garhwal Rifles are a regiment in the Indian Army. So, you might ask, why am I linking to this article about their history? Well, in amongst all the 'Britain stood alone' rhetoric of the Second World War people forget that, during World Wars 1 and 2, Britain used troops from across a massive Empire - including the men of the Garhwal rifles - and many died on European soil.
Saturday May 08, 2004  #

Modern history proves a theatrical success...
In a recent news report I expressed scepticism over the commercial potential of a play about post-war German politics. Well, Michael Frayn's 'Democracy' has proved very popular in Berlin and this interview with the playwright explores both the theatre and the nature of coalition government.
Saturday May 08, 2004  #

Medieval sailors more advanced than thought
New studies have shown that the Carta Marina, a map dating back to 1539, contains ocean features around Iceland and the northern seas which we now use satellites to see, strongly suggesting that medieval seafarers had a more advanced grasp of the ocean’s nature (if not the underlying science) than we believed. It's truly a pleasure to feature a story on old maps and advanced ancestors which doesn't mention Atlantis or aliens; read more here!
Saturday May 08, 2004  #

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