19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 19
March 29th, 1810 (March 17th O.S.). We have good news brought by one of the Count’s agents returning from St Petersburg. A suitable ship has been found and purchased, and is now on her long [more…]
History
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 18
December 22nd, 1809 (December 10th O.S.). Count Bagarov has taken Fred’s advice about using a bomb ship to penetrate the North-East Passage, and has sent one of his agents to St Petersburg to try to [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 17
November 21st, 1809 (November 9th O.S.). Count Bagarov was delighted by our reception by the Tsar. From an obscure minor courtier lurking in the corners of the state rooms of the Winter Palace, he has [more…]
19th Century
Lest we remember
The 1813 Battle of Leipzig is known in Germany as the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlacht). It was greatest fight in European history prior to World War I, with nearly 400,000 Russian, Prussian, Austrian and [more…]
17th Century
To Be a Pilgrim
A friend of mine had worked for many years as a replica “Plimoth Pilgrim” at the replica “Plimoth Plantation” in Massachusetts. I went on a visit and observed this strange way of life. For my [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 16
November 16th, 1809 (November 4th O.S). This morning a gorgeously attired equerry from the palace cantered up to our tumbledown shack on a shining black horse to deliver a wafer of thick cream-coloured pasteboard with [more…]
Arts
Inside the Neolithic Mind
This is a rather niche book, but I know there are (at least) a few Puffins keen on archaeology, so I thought it might be of interest. It explores, as the subtitle says, ‘consciousness, cosmos [more…]
20th Century
Emmet Dalton and the raid on Mountjoy Prison
This is a story about one of the rebels against British rule over Ireland and about one incident in that rebellion in the early 20th century. Emmet Dalton was born in the United States in [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 15
October 24th, 1809. We are at Romford in Essex, after a circuitous journey to throw pursuers off the scent. Our coaches crossed London Bridge as if bound for Dover, but instead we soon left the [more…]