Category Archives: History

The Exodus Incident: when emotion met geopolitics

Posted on August 8, 2019 by

A common view at the time was that he [Bevin] was antisemitic and this influenced his policies.1 Introduction In an act of imperial hubris, Britain accepted the Mandate2 for Palestine. It was meant to run from 1923 to 1948. Britain … Continue reading →

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Dorothy Thompson’s Christmas Card list

Posted on August 5, 2019 by

Dorothy frowned and said she simply couldn’t forgive him [Hobsbawn] for accepting the Companion of Honour: ‘OK for an actor or entertainer, but absolutely not for serious, critical intellectual work – I’m afraid I had to strike him off my … Continue reading →

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Slavery, the Bible and the Word of God

Posted on July 25, 2019 by

“[Our] belief is that the Bible is inerrant. It was without error in all of its claims about the nature of the world and the nature of God.”1 The Bible, for many Christians, is the Word of God. It’s God … Continue reading →

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Heroic Drinking in Tanganyika

Posted on July 18, 2019 by

One of Hosking’s jobs in Tanganyika was to buy the drinks for the dinner parties held by the mining community – the rations consisted of a crate of beer or a bottle of whisky per person. ‘It sounds more than … Continue reading →

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A start a middle and an end

Posted on July 17, 2019 by

I’ll start this story in a tenants association hall in Myrtle Road, Harold Hill. I used the small bar for a pint or two in the 1980s when I heard that the chair had decided to resign. I put my … Continue reading →

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The importance of the Act of Supremacy 1534

Posted on July 11, 2019 by

Introduction The Act of Supremacy ended English Roman Catholicism. England became Protestant when Henry VIII declared himself, supreme head on Earth of the Church of England. Crucially he embedded religious orthodoxy in the person of the monarch. England moved to … Continue reading →

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The bin Laden family and the Twin Towers

Posted on June 24, 2019 by

“A perfect example of this new and often strange world comes with the sale of the largest stake in the firm that quarries the Carrara marble in Italy that was used for the Pantheon in Rome, the Duomo in Siena, … Continue reading →

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