Category Archives: History

Fidel Castro, Regime Change and American Imperialism 1956-61

Posted on July 21, 2017 by odeboyz

Fidel Castro successfully deposed the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. It quickly became apparent to the Americans that Castro wouldn’t be another patsy like Batista. Batista fulfilled the model of Latin American dictators insofar as he promoted American big … Continue reading →

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Adolf Hitler’s pitiless indifference to the suffering of the Wehrmacht 7th November 1942

Posted on July 18, 2017 by odeboyz

The table was elegantly set with silver cutlery, cut glass, good china and flower arrangements. As we began our ample meal, none of us at first saw that a freight train was stopped on the adjacent track. From the cattle … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Philip Kerr March Violets

Posted on July 11, 2017 by odeboyz

March Violets is the first in the Bernie Gunther series of novels, which are a tour de force. Bernie Gunther is a Berlin policeman caught up in the madness of Nazi Germany. The evocation of 1930s Berlin is exceptional as … Continue reading →

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The Sledgehammer and the Scalpel: Hamburg 1943 and Amiens 1944

Posted on June 16, 2017 by odeboyz

Introduction The Germans achieved a stupendous military victory in the summer of 1940 leaving Britain isolated behind the English Channel, which acted as a ‘moat’. It quickly became apparent the Germans couldn’t invade Britain and vice versa. A military impasse … Continue reading →

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Nice people don’t become Nazis: Dorothy Thompson 1941

Posted on June 6, 2017 by odeboyz

Kind, good, happy, gentlemanly, secure people never go Nazi. They may be the gentle philosopher whose name is in the Blue Book, or Bill from City College to whom democracy gave a chance to design airplanes—you’ll never make Nazis out … Continue reading →

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The MCC, social-class and English Cricket in the 1960s

Posted on June 2, 2017 by odeboyz

The MCC* ruled English cricket with an iron fist in the 1960s. County cricket administrators were a version of the MCC, using their social-class and status as Gentlemen to control cricket. Professional cricketers were regarded as social inferiors because they … Continue reading →

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William Tyndale School: Returning after 64 years

Posted on May 25, 2017 by odeboyz

On the 16th of May 2017 I returned to the brick lined alleyway, which led to the school building. There were two entrances one for boys and the other for girls. This was historically true but obviously, in 2017, sexual … Continue reading →

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Lenin’s cushy exile in Siberia 1897-1900

Posted on May 16, 2017 by odeboyz

He… received a steady stream of books on extended loan from libraries in St Petersburg and Moscow, via the good offices of his sisters, to supply his voracious appetite for reading. Despite his frustrations with the speed of the postal … Continue reading →

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The importance of the battle of Mukden (1905)

Posted on April 21, 2017 by odeboyz

The carnage of the first world war wasn’t inevitable. The horrendous losses suffered could have been avoided by high commands sensitive to the evolution of warfare techniques. Their ‘war games’ were a hapless iteration of previous obsolete military experiences. Nine … Continue reading →

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Theresa May: will she deliver a Brexit paradise on June 8th 2017?

Posted on April 21, 2017 by odeboyz

“On the day that Theresa May triggered article 50, YouGov published a survey of the things people whould like brought back after Britain has left the EU. Top of the list was the death penalty, with 52% of those who … Continue reading →

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