Features on Major Events
WW1 Remembrance Poetry Art and Hope
The Digital Archives of WW1 Poetry needs little introduction. Worthy of a reflective browse and full of deeply moving artefacts. When souls in the extremes of horrific wars raise themselves to such heights, in spite of all they face, it feels like the least we can do is to take inspiration from their art and…
Read MoreHiroshima an English Perspective
Hiroshima an English Perspective on 70th Commemoration in the spirit of hope, resilience and reconciliation with thanks to a unique 390 year old Bonsai Tree, a blog post with references and links commemorating this the 70th anniversary of these dark days but with hope for the future and thanks to Master Yamaki.
Read MoreIT Livery Companies History and Dame Shirley
Dame Stephanie Shirley, aka Steve computing pioneer, philanthropist and advocate for strategic projects in Autism and child escaping Nazi Germany via the British Kindertransport initiative. She survived and succeeded against the odds, one 10,000 against one and a half million that perished..She is part of history and very much alive and still making it happen, she is for me an inspiration and continues a long line of great contributions to British life that started with the story of a migration and the struggles of an immigrant trying to make the best of the cards life has dealt the, We can all learn something from Dame Shirley.
Read MoreAppeasement as Pragmatic Policy
Appeasement Policy, why did it have any credibility in Neville Chamberlain’s eyes? Could he really believe Hitler wanted peace and when it did unravel was he really surprised and ill-prepared? Would Churchill have handled this period any better and with the position Britain found itself in at that particular point could Churchill really have fared any better by outright confrontation before 3rd Sept 1939?
Read MoreParis Peace Conference 1919
Was the Paris Peace Conference and four months of wrangling amongst the Allies robbing Germany of its Empire a key document that impacts on British Appeasement Policy in 1938 1939 and was it also a major factor in the problems that led to WW2? In full knowledge of its content is Chamberlain all too aware of its implications and seeks to appease Germany’s imperialist pretensions because of it, or in spite of it. Before we judge Chamberlain should we not take a long hard look at Britain in the ‘interwar years’ and how these outcomes constrain the options available as Baldwin resigns and Chamberlain picks-up the poison chalice.
Read MoreEdward Coke 1552 – 1634
Edward Coke, supreme barrister and politician of the C16th and C17th, whose belief and work in Common Law became part of the English and US Constitution whose name should be known by every child in the UK.
Read MoreArthur James Balfour Prime Minister 1902-1905
Arthur James Balfour was a Prime Minister cut from the old aristocratic mould, an intelligent man who perhaps lacked emotional intelligence to match. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, nephew of Lord Salisbury, his mother’s brother. He would serve in coalition during WWI alongside Lloyd George more than strange bed-fellows. It was then that his now infamous Balfour Declaration would be declared and continues to cited as the root cause of the troubles between the Arab and Zionist causes in Palestine. and modern Israel. Unsuccessful Prime Ministers can be even more important it would seem than those that succeed and the failures may also be greatest when they are no longer in the top job.
Read MoreConstitutional Crisis People’s Budget 1909
What would cause a king to contemplate the end of the Monarchy and that his son might be the last King? When his Barons, the Lords would rise-up and revolt against the rule of democracy and seek to reinvent the will of the people via its commons from being fulfilled. Lloyd George and Winston Churchill would be the advocates for the poor and common man. Asquith would seek to calm the rage and the King would plead with the Lords to let the Bill pass but it would take two General Elections and never again would this unwritten convention be relied upon without statute to support it.
Read MoreWinston Churchills Legacy a balanced perspective
How can you get a balanced view and perspective about this British Prime Minister and what his real legacy is on this (2015) the 50th Anniversary of Winston Churchill’s state funeral. The historians and politician’s literature never mind Winston’s own writings are huge. He never did a single TV interview Professor Vernon Bogdanor does us all proud with this excellent video lecture, in his roles as Emeritus Professor of Law and Visiting Professor of Political History at the excellent Gresham College find a little time and get an excellent balanced view and appraisal of the legacy left to us all by Winston Churchill.
Read MoreKing John vs the Church
King John vs the church, is this what was behind King Johns road towards Magna Carta? Was this a King who did not fear God and a country little bothered by its isolation from Rome?
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