Helmut Kohl has died. One of only three men to be named Honorary Citizen of Europe, he was a true European statesman. However, his pioneering achievement, the unification of Germany, … Continue reading Helmut Kohl and the peaceful revolution
Category: History
Age of Empires: Good game, bad history
Video games aren’t art, but it turns out they can be a damn good educational tool, if only to encourage curiosity. Among the pantheon of video games, the beloved Age of … Continue reading Age of Empires: Good game, bad history
Periphery: The myth of British exceptionalism
One of our greatest failures is our inability to confront our imperial past. Still celebrated in our media and by our right-wing press, it has left us with an inflated … Continue reading Periphery: The myth of British exceptionalism
Closed ports and Christians: Japan’s era of isolation
Distrust of a religious minority, limited interest in international trade, a desire to protect a national identity: this is early modern Japan, a feudal backwater that had cut itself off … Continue reading Closed ports and Christians: Japan’s era of isolation
When we were refugees: Anglo-Saxons on the Black Sea
Refugees dominate the headlines. Whether fleeing civil war in Syria, or political oppression in Africa, the right-wing media has met them with scorn. This attitude is coloured by our failure … Continue reading When we were refugees: Anglo-Saxons on the Black Sea
The lie that killed old England
950 years ago, the Battle of Hastings was fought in Sussex, and the face of English history changed forever. The Old English tradition disappeared forever, taking with it a system … Continue reading The lie that killed old England
Claudius the God: Was Phaemon’s dog right?
Claudius the God asks us to consider whether it is right to support Claudius as he descends into despotism – not just for the characters in the story, but also … Continue reading Claudius the God: Was Phaemon’s dog right?
The lost clubs of old Germany
In the 1920s and 30s, Germany threatened to be an important footballing nation, finishing third in the 1934 World Cup. In those days, they had a larger country from which … Continue reading The lost clubs of old Germany
Little Letterhole: A villain worth remembering
I, Claudius abounds with villains: there is the insane, incestuous Caligula; the sadistic Tiberius; and the power hungry Sejanus, but the most effective of them all is Livia Drusilla, the … Continue reading Little Letterhole: A villain worth remembering
Komnenian reputation: Erdoğan’s Byzantine approach
The increasingly autocratic President of Turkey has been compared to an Ottoman Sultan, but in the relationship with his NATO allies Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is closer to a much older … Continue reading Komnenian reputation: Erdoğan’s Byzantine approach
