20th Century
From Guinea Pigs to CCAST
Part 1 – Joint Doctrine for Medical Support, The Operational Context “If any good can be said to come of war, then the Second War War must go on record as assisting and accelerating one [more…]
China
Arts
Taiwan’s Tiananmen
In early 2014, I was living in Taiwan. The year is remembered there (and nowhere else) for the so-called “Sunflower” upheaval, an ultimately unsuccessful student protest that was in many ways a precursor to the [more…]
Authoritarianism
Hong Kong: Corona Virus, Conspiracy and Control
Hong Kong has apparently had a ‘good’ corona virus pandemic. Cases reported at a little over 1000 are, for a densely populated area of 8 million, modest. The four deaths arising from this very small [more…]
Arts
One Night in Dezhou
In spring 2013, I travelled by train across China from Guangzhou to Qingdao in the north via Wuhan. Here, the journey resumes with an unintended stopover in the crappy end of Dezhou, an obscure industrial [more…]
Arts
All change at Shijiazhuang
In spring 2013, I travelled by train across China from Guangzhou to Qingdao in the north via Wuhan. This leg starts at Shijiazhuang, where I discovered the hard way why most Chinese plan their journeys [more…]
Arts
Across Hubei by HSR
In spring 2013, I travelled by train across China from Guangzhou to Qingdao in the north via Wuhan. This part starts in Wuhan, from where the high-speed rails led northward from Hubei Province and across [more…]
Arts
Septic Eye – China Murders the World Pullout Special (free gift inside)
Readers fresh to GP may not be aware but I produced a stunning series some while ago, exclusively for the discerning readers of this blog (the others, you know who you are, mostly ignored it). [more…]
Arts
Where the river rages
This is NOT about the Wuhan virus, but it is about Wuhan. In spring 2013, I travelled by train across China from Guangzhou to Qingdao in the north. Wuhan was more or less the middle [more…]
20th Century
HMS Amethyst and the Yangtse “Incident”
Simon’s Story It’s warm in the room and I’m lying cosily in that semi-trance state, debating whether to close my inner eyelids for ever, or to attempt to explain my small part in the story. I [more…]