20th Century
Somewhere West of Laramie
It was an evening in June 1923, and a Union Pacific train – “The Overland Limited” – was working its way west across the wilds of Wyoming. Onboard was Ned Jordon, president of the Jordan [more…]
History
Arts
Wolf Country: A Spiritual History of Iran
Introduction Paropamisidae, Arachosia, Gedrosia, Hyrcania…what strangely mellifluous names were given to the provinces of the Persian Empire conquered by Alexander, whose name became synonymous with evil in the Iranian mind. Hyrcania had echoes even in [more…]
20th Century
A History of Pop Music Albums – 1992
A History of Pop Music Albums – 1992 Featured Album: Annie Lennox – Diva This is a series of articles looking at albums from 1960 to whatever year we end up in. I will select [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – May 1941
An even busier month than April, lots going on in North Africa, Crete and Abyssinia. The Germans and Italians continued to besiege Tobruk, German paratroops invaded Crete and yet more parts of Abyssinia fell to [more…]
Arts
Postcard from Romania – Part Two
Part One of the Postcard from Romania covered our arrival in the beautiful city of Cluj-Napoca, in May of 2018. In writing it, I tried to dispel just a little of the negative impression many [more…]
20th Century
The Spy Who Went Into The Deep Freeze
Kim Philby. For those of a certain age, the name conjures up an indicator as to the decline in British post-war influence abroad. His charmed connections within society enabling him to bypass interrogation over material [more…]
History
The mummies of Cladh Hallan
If I said to you the word ‘mummies’, archaeologically speaking what comes to mind? (As an aside, that reminds me of one of my favourite British Library catalogue subheadings describing a book – ‘Mummies. For [more…]
Christianity
How to Save a Civilisation – the 10th Century Crisis
It’s very easy to be depressed and lose a sense of hope these days. Trump, lockdowns, climate scams, immigration and public finances out of control, race baiters trying to erase our history… The question arises: [more…]
20th Century
A History of Pop Music Albums – 1991
A History of Pop Music Albums – 1991 Featured Album: Greatest_Hits_II_(Queen_album) This is a series of articles looking at albums from 1960 to whatever year we end up in. I will select a featured album [more…]