20th Century
The History of Pop Music – 1999
Featured song: Robbie Williams – She’s The One This is the last of a series of articles looking at pop music from 1955 when in my opinion proper pop music began up to 1999 [more…]
History
History
Israel and Iran, an Eternal War?
The history of relations between Jews (and later Israel) and Persians (later Iran) stretches back over two and a half millennia and is more than a simple narrative of continuous hostility. For much of that [more…]
20th Century
Black Chips Down in Somaliland
Americans know Somalia from the film “Black Hawk Down” based on the U.S. intervention of 1993. The U.S. had armed Somalia’s strong man, Siad Barre, as a counter to Ethiopia’s Marxist government, but with the [more…]
19th Century
The Scrapbook of Sherlock Holmes, 1/6: The Six Puffins. Part 1 of 2
During the many years I spent with my friend the famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes I have had the privilege of publishing accounts of many of his cases, almost without exception triumphantly brought to a [more…]
19th Century
Easter Railway Review
I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while, but real life keeps interrupting. One’s pen’s been distracted by a diminishing Navy, war in the Gulf, Question Times, Holy Week and even the installation [more…]
16th Century
‘Agua ai cordi’
It’s a tradition in the Catholic church that on Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, worshippers are given little crosses made from palm leaves. They commemmorate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, when followers strewed palm leaves [more…]
20th Century
The History of Pop Music – 1998
Featured song: All Saints – Never Ever (UK Version)
Arts
(A Little) Off the Beaten Track in Rome and some Rugby Thing
Mr A and I had been to Rome to watch the 6 nations match, England versus Italy, 2 years before and enjoyed it so much we wanted to go again. Last time we visited all [more…]
20th Century
Tanker Wars
All has changed. Or has it? We have been here before, literally. The Puffin is a well-travelled bird with a good memory and can recall rolling dunes, desert villages, remote sun-drenched harbours and trails of [more…]