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Category Archives: History
Black Lives Matter: Billie Holiday’s song ‘Strange Fruit’
Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” is now recognized as one of the greatest recordings of all time, being named to the Songs of the Century list by the National Endowment of the Arts. But this powerfully mournful song was almost never … Continue reading
Posted in History, Politics, Review
Tagged Billie Holiday, Black Lives Matter, Deep South, Lynching, Strange Fruit
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Book Review: William Ryan ~ The Holy Thief (2010)
The death of Phillip Kerr left a hole in my reading of historical novels. His principal character, Bernie Gunther,1 a Berlin policeman becomes embedded in the Nazi regime whilst maintaining his integrity (sort of). Ryan’s Moscow Noir novels are set … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History, Politics
Tagged 1930s, Holy relics, NKVD, Soviet Union, Stalin
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Royal Navy Punishments in the 18th Century
“…naval authorities sought to attain social control by normalizing flogging as a form of deterrent punishment….[captains] were permitted to flog at their own discretion.”1 Shipboard punishments were inflicted by captains who had absolute authority. Only a sentence of capital punishment … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged capital punishment, corporal punishment, Flogging, Royal Navy
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Black Lives Matter: Jesse Owens Olympic Champion 1936
Jesse Owens on the podium after winning a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics. A month after the Olympic Games, Owens told a crowd, “Hitler didn’t snub me—it was [Roosevelt] who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send me … Continue reading
Posted in History, Politics, Sport
Tagged 1936 Olympics, Adolf Hitler, Black Lives Matter, Black-Americans, Roosevelt
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The problem of being a dictator
In the span of a couple of weeks, Vladimir Putin….managed to revitalize NATO, unify a splintered West, turn Ukraine’s little-known president into a global hero, wreck Russia’s economy, and solidify his legacy as a murderous war criminal. How did he … Continue reading
Posted in History, Politics, War
Tagged dictatorship, sycophantic supporters, truth to power, Vladimir Putin
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Book Review: Viet Thanh Nguyen ~ The Sympathizer (2015)
This superb book won the USA’s Pulitzer Prize. Nguyen is brilliant and the real thing: a great author. Opening sentences are important, I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces.1 The unnamed hero/anti-hero is a … Continue reading
Posted in History, Literature, Politics, Review, War
Tagged Communism, Saigon, Social Justice, torture, Vietnam war
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Who was Oliver Cromwell?
He was courageous, devout, resolute, principled, intelligent, eloquent, able, adaptable and dedicated, but also self-seeking, unscrupulous, dishonest, manipulative, vindictive and bloodthirsty: definitely not somebody to be simply taken at his word. Ronald Hutton The Making of Oliver Cromwell p338
Woody Guthrie discovers Catholic hypocrisy
“Son, I have been in this service [Roman Catholic priest] all my life. I have seen to it that thousands of men just like you got to work for a meal. But, right at this moment, there is no kind … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History, Literature, Religion
Tagged charity, Folk singer, Hobo, hypocrisy, The Great Depression, Woody Guthrie
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Definition of a Puritan
…..someone who worries that somebody, somewhere might be enjoying themselves.
Queen Victoria and Childbirth
Queen Victoria, 1837-1901, had nine children and numerous grand-children.1 The 19th century was an era of large families but many babies didn’t survive into adulthood. Childbirth was dangerous for both mother and child. Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, wanted her to … Continue reading
Posted in education, Health, History, Technology
Tagged Childbirth, Chloroform, Dr John Snow, family life, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria
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