
A New Year: Full of Promise, Full of Hope
January. The beginning of a new journey for all. A time to make New Year Resolutions. In Britain it is often today referred to as 'dry...

Items from my Commonplace Book
Nature always seemed to get on all right until people showed up. The novelist David Baldacci May you never meet a mouse in your pantry...

Words from Times Past in England
Many of these words will be familiar to older readers, whether they live in England or elsewhere, or at least the things they describe...

Answers to second Christmas quiz (v. below for the Quiz itself)
1 Black Panthers 2 US-Canadian Border 3 Teddy Roosevelt 4 Louisiana 5 Texas 6 If born before Independence Britain reserved the right to...

Second Christmas time Quiz
On American History 1 Which militant group in the 1960s did Bobby Seale belong to? 2 What issue between US and UK was finally resolved by...

ANSWERS TO FIRST CHRISTMAS QUIZ (v. blog below for the questions)
1 Prince George of Denmark 2 Grandfather 3 Elizabeth I 4 Lord Rosebery 5 Gwilym Lloyd George 6 Lloyd George on Stanley Baldwin 7 A coin...

First Christmas time Quiz 2021
THE ANSWERS ARE POSTED ON A SEPARATE BLOG. I HOPE THEY ARE ALL CORRECT, UNLIKE LAST YEAR; SOMEHOW I DOUBT IT! ON ENGLISH HISTORY 1 Who...

Synopsis for JW3 Himalaya class Th 16 Dec
KASHMIR Land of Lost Enchantment 1753-1846 Changing Masters Muslim majority lack a voice It all began in 1947 with partition Hindu...

Synopsis for JW3 Caucasus class on Th 16th Dec
NORTH CAUCASUS Introduction Early History in brief Circassians Russo-Circassian war 1763-1864 Circassian Genocide Mountain Jews Russian...

A very Short Booklist as an introduction to 1688/1776
The English Revolution 1688-1689 GM Trevelyan A classic and blessedly short! Devil-Land Clare Jackson A new book which provides...

Synopsis for JW3 Caucasus class 9th Dec
Modern Wars The World in Conflict Georgia: Rose Revolution 2003 War with Russia 2008 Consequences of war Present situation - concept of...

Synopsis for JW3 Himalaya Course 9th Dec
The New Great Game (or The New Cold War) The Old Great Game now writ large as The New Great Game Borders: geographic, political, and...

Booklist Cromwell and The English Republic
Cromwell Antonia Fraser A brilliant and easy to read popular biography The Making of Oliver Cromwell Ronald Hutton A wonderful...

Synopsis for JW3 Himalaya Course, Thurs 2/12
The Modernisation of the Region Globalisation Chinese Tibet - new infrastructure Belt and Road Initiative of China Yet many Tibetans...

Synopsis for Caucasus class Thurs 2nd December
Old Countries, New Problems Gerontocracy in USSR The end of The Soviet Union Small Wars in The Caucasus to mid 1990s It all kicks off in...

A Short and Personal Booklist on English Civil War
Cavaliers and Roundheads Christopher Hibbert The English Civil War (First hand accounts) Tristram Hunt Civil War (Vol 3 of...

Synopsis for JW3 Himalaya class. Thurs 25 Nov
Chinese Tibet Having emerged from centuries of decline when their claim on Tibet weakened, especially after Britain intervened in 1904,...

Synopsis for JW3 class on The Caucasus. Thurs 25th November
Under the Soviet Heel Recap and death of Lenin Caucasian Exiles and Resistance Lenin's and Stalin's views on The Caucasus re Post WW1...

Short Booklist on English Reformation and Puritan Colonial America
English Reformation The Stripping of the Altars Eamon Duffy A People's Tragedy Eamon Duffy The Voices of Morebath (study of...