Category Archives: History

Human Nature Never Changes: 1353

Posted on December 2, 2021 by odeboyz

“Having withdrawn, living separate from everybody else, they settled down and locked themselves in, where no sick person or any living person could come, they ate small amounts of food and drank the most delicate of wines and avoided all … Continue reading →

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Voltaire on poverty

Posted on November 18, 2021 by odeboyz

“The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.”

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The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler’s Last Gamble

Posted on November 11, 2021 by odeboyz

Background Hitler’s political career was a series of audacious political, diplomatic and military gambles, which were dramatically successful until June 1941. Then hubris took hold and the gambles became losers. In Summer 1941, Hitler’s diplomatic coup of 19391 unravelled with … Continue reading →

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Maynard Keynes’s* view of the First World War

Posted on November 1, 2021 by odeboyz

“If the European Civil War is to end with France and Italy abusing their momentary victorious power to destroy Germany and Austria-Hungary now prostrate, they invite their own destruction also, being so deeply and inextricably intertwined with their victims by … Continue reading →

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The long transition from Victorian technology

Posted on October 28, 2021 by odeboyz

The transition from Victorian technology is accelerating. Their technologies are embedded into 21st century Britain, which has been shaped by them. The transition will be revolutionary, disconcerting and will be resisted by broad swathes of society. Background Victorian technologiesare pervasive: … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Volker Kutscher ~ The Fatherland Files (2019) (Translator Niall Sellar)

Posted on October 21, 2021 by odeboyz

Fans of Philip Kerr and his wonderful series featuring Berlin policeman Bernie Gunter will warm to this German version. The book reeks of authenticity in its depiction of pre-Nazi Berlin and the insidious take-over of the police by them. The … Continue reading →

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Black Lives Matter: Miles Davis 1959: New York City

Posted on October 7, 2021 by odeboyz

Background Miles Davis was a jazz superstar. In this encounter, with a red neck policeman in New York City, it made no difference. All that mattered was white supremacy and the power of the badge. The officer wasn’t sacked for … Continue reading →

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A Good Nazi: Denmark 1943

Posted on October 4, 2021 by odeboyz

On September 28, 1943, a high-level Nazi attaché serving in Copenhagen, Denmark wrote these words in his diary as he made the boldest decision of his entire life. Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz had served the Third Reich in its occupation of … Continue reading →

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Reasons to vote Conservative

Posted on September 27, 2021 by odeboyz
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Anthony Eden’s Mental Map: the Suez Canal Débâcle, 1956

Posted on September 23, 2021 by odeboyz

Napoleon commented, “to understand the man you have to know what was happening in the world when he was twenty.1 Background As a young officer, Eden aged 18, led troops in the battle of the Somme, 1916. This vicious battle … Continue reading →

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