Category Archives: History

Book Review: P J O’Rourke ~ Holidays in Hell (1988)

Posted on May 25, 2020 by odeboyz

Satire notoriously ages badly. So much of it depends on the readers knowledge of the setting and personality of what is being satirised. Once the moment is gone so has the point of the humour. Consider the cartoon below. It … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Humour, Politics, Travel, War | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Soldier Soldier

Posted on May 25, 2020 by odeboyz

Great Granddad, soldier of the Dragoon Guards Impeccably immaculate, imperial in his uniform Young resolute, his features sit square He looks every bit, the soldier there. What was he thinking, as the photograph was snapped His portrait for posterity, generations … Continue reading →

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The Birth of Northern Ireland, 1921

Posted on May 21, 2020 by odeboyz

Ireland’s unique colony-plus status was established in 1801 as a response to the 1798 rebellion. Conflicts during the 19th and early 20th century led to the successful Irish War of Independence, which culminated in the 1921 peace treaty. Northern Ireland … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Politics, War | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Hitler’s nightmare: Henry Morganthau’s plan

Posted on May 7, 2020 by odeboyz

Henry Morgenthau was Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Treasury from 1934. To Hitler he epitomised ‘World Jewry’. He was Jewish Wall Street royalty, a close friend and colleague of Roosevelt. He rescued the US economy by ‘Keynesian’ financing of the New … Continue reading →

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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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