Category Archives: History

Why Stalin thought El Alamein was a Sideshow

Posted on April 23, 2020 by odeboyz

“Churchill sent a telegram to Stalin on 7th July [1941] promising every possible help…”* Churchill wrote the script of British understanding of the Second World War. One result of this is that the Soviet Union’s gigantic battles are virtually unknown. … Continue reading →

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SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Heydrich’s widow: an unrepentant Nazi

Posted on April 20, 2020 by odeboyz

The German authorities, too, turned a blind eye to the Heydrich case. Lina never stood trial for the maltreatment of her slave labourers in Jungfern-Breschan. On the contrary, in the context of the so-called de-Nazification process, she was officially cleared … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Graham Greene ~ Our Man In Havana (1958)

Posted on April 20, 2020 by odeboyz

The shocking thing about reading books from the 1950s is the casual racism. This is the first sentence of Greene’s novel, “’That nigger going down the street,’ said Dr Hasselbacher standing in the Wonder Bar, ‘he reminds me of you, … Continue reading →

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Ghoulish British tourists after the Crimean War

Posted on April 16, 2020 by odeboyz

Boatloads of tourists arrived from Britain to see the famous battle sites and collect souvenirs – a Russian gun or sword, or a bit of uniform plundered from the bodies of the Russian dead that remained in the trenches for … Continue reading →

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Churchill as a Myth Maker: The Second Battle of El Alamein, 1942

Posted on April 9, 2020 by odeboyz

“Britain, of course — always wins one battle — the last. It would seem to have begun rather earlier this time. General Alexander, with his brilliant comrade and lieutenant, General Montgomery, has gained a glorious and decisive victory in what … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Thomas Penn ~ The Brothers York: An English Tragedy (2019)

Posted on March 30, 2020 by odeboyz

Thomas Penn’s day has come! Who’d have thought an academic work on the York brothers would be of the moment? Well he has Hilary Mantel to thank. She’s turbo-charged medieval history into a central position with her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. … Continue reading →

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We’re rich because of our ancestors

Posted on March 12, 2020 by odeboyz

“At least half of our wealth comes from the ideas and investments of those who are now dead.” https://www.bradford-delong.com/2019/05/yes-societal-well-being-depends-on-a-very-strong-distributional-bias-along-the-lines-of-to-each-according-to-their-need-w.html

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George Neville: his archbishop of York’s feast 1465

Posted on March 5, 2020 by odeboyz

There were 3,000 guests and the feast lasted a week:- “There was a frenzy of butchery. The carcasses disembowelled, plucked, prepared and dressed for the occasion included 1,000 sheep, 500 deer of various varieties, 400 swans, 2,000 each of pigs … Continue reading →

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Medicine in the good old days

Posted on February 27, 2020 by odeboyz
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British Sporting Hypocrisy: the Zola Budd Incident and Others

Posted on February 27, 2020 by odeboyz

The Olympic motto ‘Swifter, Higher, Stronger’ is meant to spur the athletes to embrace the Olympic spirit and perform to the best of their abilities. The Olympic Games ideal is athletes competing in a spirit of competitive endeavour. The Berlin … Continue reading →

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