Tag: History

The Surprising Ways Inventions and Ideas Spread in Ancient Prehistory

by Brenna R. Hassett The human capacity for invention is unparalleled. We have developed technologies that have allowed us to survive and thrive far beyond the ecological niches that constrained our ancestors. While our innovation has allowed us to break loose from the constraints of our home continent, Africa, and even our home planet, the actual… Read More The Surprising Ways Inventions and Ideas Spread in Ancient Prehistory

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From the Arsenal of Democracy to an Arsenal of Genocide / Six UNRWA workers among 18 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school

During the presidential debate, Kamala Harris was asked to explain what she would do about Israel’s war on Gaza, and she said, “Let’s understand how we got here. On October 7, Hamas, a terrorist organization, slaughtered 1,200 Israelis.” This is false. As anyone with a basic working knowledge of the conflict knows, this war is… Read More From the Arsenal of Democracy to an Arsenal of Genocide / Six UNRWA workers among 18 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school

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India and the End of Empire. Selected Writings of Daniel O’Connor

NB: The Rev Daniel O’Connor was pastor of St Stephen’s College during the years I was there, in the 1960’s. He and his dear wife Juliet befriended me and my comrades, at a time we were considered trouble-makers. They did not agree with our politics, but for all that, never withdrew their affection. One of… Read More India and the End of Empire. Selected Writings of Daniel O’Connor

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Paul Fussell, ex-soldier, literary scholar & critic of war (1924-2012)

First posted May 27, 2012 Out of the mass experience of pointless death, a new way of speaking and writing, devoid of euphemism, arose, a plain style we associate with Hemingway.. The Great War chronicles the loss of the old rhetoric, of high pieties, of sacrifice and roseate dawns, in favor of “blood, terror, agony, madness, shit,… Read More Paul Fussell, ex-soldier, literary scholar & critic of war (1924-2012)

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September 3 marks the 85th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War

For those interested, here are some materials and documentaries related to the world’s worst war A New History of the Second World War Was Vichy France a Puppet Government or a Willing Nazi Collaborator? The Second World War Remember this lady. In memory of Irena Sendler Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Clara Zetkin: Fascism must be defeated (1932) Traute Lafrenz,… Read More September 3 marks the 85th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War

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Antony Beevor on the history of the second world war: ‘There are things that are too horrific to put in a book’

First posted May 22, 2015 The historian Antony Beevor tells Keith Lowe why his next book will confront one of the last taboos of the Second World War Antony Beevor has sleepless nights. When I met him recently at his west London home, he confessed this in a matter-of-fact way, and neither of us sees… Read More Antony Beevor on the history of the second world war: ‘There are things that are too horrific to put in a book’

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